Some, like Grafton Elliot Smith, argued that different groups must have learned from one another somehow, however indirectly; in other words, they argued that cultural traits spread from one place to another, or "diffused".
某些人，例如格拉夫頓‧史密斯（Grafton Elliot Smith），認為不同的團體必須採取某種方式從另一個群體學習，無論經過多少次的轉手學習；換言之，他們主張文化特質是由某地散播到另一地，或是「傳播」。