Experimental identification of social learning in wild animals

Reader, Simon M.; Biro, Dora

doi:10.3758/lb.38.3.265

Cited by 93 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 154 publications

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“…[46,59]). Ideally, experimental investigations of general intelligence should extend beyond the laboratory, since captive conditions may influence cognitive development and performance [7,60,61]. Species differences in general intelligence are likely to extend beyond primates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The social-learning data we analyse compile the results of a considerable body of published work describing primate behaviour, but still represent an early step in reconstructing the evolution of social learning and other underlying cultural capabilities. In particular, much of our data comes from observational reports of social learning, carrying the problem that neither social learning nor the underlying sociallearning process is experimentally established [61]. Statistical methods for detecting social learning in natural populations will enhance the reliability of observational reports [80,81].…”

Section: (C) Comparisons With Human Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

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The evolution of primate general and cultural intelligence

Reader

Hager

Laland

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

392

335

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There are consistent individual differences in human intelligence, attributable to a single 'general intelligence' factor, g. The evolutionary basis of g and its links to social learning and culture remain controversial. Conflicting hypotheses regard primate cognition as divided into specialized, independently evolving modules versus a single general process. To assess how processes underlying culture relate to one another and other cognitive capacities, we compiled ecologically relevant cognitive measures from multiple domains, namely reported incidences of behavioural innovation, social learning, tool use, extractive foraging and tactical deception, in 62 primate species. All exhibited strong positive associations in principal component and factor analyses, after statistically controlling for multiple potential confounds. This highly correlated composite of cognitive traits suggests social, technical and ecological abilities have coevolved in primates, indicative of an across-species general intelligence that includes elements of cultural intelligence. Our composite species-level measure of general intelligence, 'primate g S ', covaried with both brain volume and captive learning performance measures. Our findings question the independence of cognitive traits and do not support 'massive modularity' in primate cognition, nor an exclusively social model of primate intelligence. High general intelligence has independently evolved at least four times, with convergent evolution in capuchins, baboons, macaques and great apes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (C) Comparisons With Human Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of primate general and cultural intelligence

Reader

Hager

Laland

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

392

335

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, researchers in animal social learning, with an interest in cultural transmission, have recognized the significance of the diffusion experiment and have developed it to test and study the spread of traditions in controlled conditions. A review by Whiten and Mesoudi (2008) identified 33 such studies in fish, birds, primates, and other mammals, from the first in 1972 up to 2008 (see also Reader & Biro, 2010).…”

Section: Experimental Studies Of Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Studying children's social learning experimentally "in the wild"

Flynn

Whiten

2010

Learning & Behavior

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“…(b) Experimental testing Strong evidence for social learning requires controlled experiments in the laboratory and in the field [57,[59][60][61]. The classical method has been to compare the behaviour of an animal allowed to observe a conspecific, with an animal not allowed to observe another, using a single transmission event [20,50].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche

Slagsvold

Wiebe

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

145

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We briefly review the literature on social learning in birds, concluding that strong evidence exists mainly for predator recognition, song, mate choice and foraging. The mechanism of local enhancement may be more important than imitation for birds learning to forage, but the former mechanism may be sufficient for faithful transmission depending on the ecological circumstances. To date, most insights have been gained from birds in captivity. We present a study of social learning of foraging in two passerine birds in the wild, where we cross-fostered eggs between nests of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits, Parus major. Early learning causes a shift in the foraging sites used by the tits in the direction of the foster species. The shift in foraging niches was consistent across seasons, as showed by an analysis of prey items, and the effect lasted for life. The fact that young birds learn from their foster parents, and use this experience later when subsequently feeding their own offspring, suggests that foraging behaviour can be culturally transmitted over generations in the wild. It may therefore have both ecological and evolutionary consequences, some of which are discussed.

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Experimental identification of social learning in wild animals

Cited by 93 publications

References 154 publications

The evolution of primate general and cultural intelligence

The evolution of primate general and cultural intelligence

Studying children's social learning experimentally "in the wild"

Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche

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