Lamarckism

Lamarckism, proposed by French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, is a dismissed theory that states that the characteristics which an organism acquires during its lifetime will be passed on to its offspring. Later, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's studies of plant genetics discredited this notion.

Two examples of Lamarckism would include:

Giraffes stretching their necks to reach leaves high in trees (especially Acacias), strengthen and gradually lengthen their necks. These giraffes have offspring with slightly longer necks.

A blacksmith, through his work, strengthens the muscles in his arms. His sons will have similar muscular development when they mature.

Although it's been widely abandoned, this theory has gained at least some amount of momentum in the field of epigenetics, where a number of studies seem to support Lamarckian evolution.

But Lamarckism may be accurately related to cultural evolution, where societal ideas (such as catchphrases and political philosphies) are passed from one generation to the next.