2. Cultural Transmission Flashcards
what are the characteristics of cultural transmission
Information passed from individual to individual and from one generation to the next; shows rapid learning within population and produces important changes in a few generations
what are the mechanisms of cultural transmission
social learning, imitation, teaching, and social facilitation
what are some examples of cultural transmission in primates
Food washing; Stone handling; Hammering of nuts
steps in observational learning
Knowledgeable demonstrator; Naive observer; Test observer in isolation
what step are in coaction
Demonstrator/observer responses
what is social learning
imitation/observational learning (pertains to acquisition of behavior)
what is social enhancement
co-action/social facilitation (pertains to influence of response already in the animals repertoire)
what is cultural transmission
Culture (pertains to the increase in homogeneity of behavior beyond the direct social interaction)
what is Local/stimulus enhancement
directing observer’s attention (latent learning, habituation)
what is Social facilitation
mere presences increase arousal, drive and dominant response Zajonc’s Drive theory
what is Contagious behavior
behavior serves as a ‘releaser” of instinctive response
what is Observational conditioning
the unconditioned response serves as a US to an observer (i.e., classical conditioned observational learning)
what is imitation
duplication of observer’s exact response
what is teaching
intentional transfer of information (benefit) to observer at a (cost) to the demonstrator
what are the effects of observation learning
Teaches new behaviors; Increases or decreases the frequency with which previously learned behaviors are carried out; Can encourage previously forbidden behaviors; Can increase or decrease similar behaviors
what are the four conditions of social learning
attention to the model; retention to detail; motor reproduction; motivation and opportunity
what is attention to the model
A person must first pay attention to a person engaging in a certain behavior (the model)
what is retention to detail
Once attending to the observed behavior, the observer must be able to effectively remember what the model has done
what is motor reproduction
The observer must be able to replicate the behavior being observed
what is motivation and opportunity
The observer must be motivated to carry out the action they have observed and remembered, and must have the opportunity to do so
What are the 3 requirements for “true” imitation
New behavior learned from another; behavior must involve spatial/topographic manipulation; achievement of a goal
What is correspondence problem
How does one animal learn to produce behavioral responses by observing the movements of another
What is perspective taking
Imitation requires exact movements observers perspective not the same as demonstrators
What is bi-directional lever
Mirror image of a response is not true imitation; exact imitation requires response that is identical to demonstrators
