Lecture 2b - Social Learning

Question 1

What is social learning?

Answer 1

Behaviour that is learn and aquired socially
Watching or interacting with others
Persists in the absence of the demonstrator

Question 2

What is Social Facilitation?

Answer 2

Increased likelihood of performing a behaviour while it is being performed by others
Observe evolutional advantages
Not an example of social learning

Question 3

Finding food - McQuoid and Galef (1992)

Answer 3

Jungle Fowl
Observer sees demonstrator eating from one location
Observer will choose the same bowl
The goal or action of the demonstrator doesn’t need to be understood just copied and learnt

Question 4

Stimulus enhancement - Lorenz Ducks

Answer 4

More likely to escape from hole after watching another duck escape
Not imitating the first duck but their action draws attention to the hole

Question 5

Learning which foods are safe - Galef (1988)

Answer 5

social transmission of preference
Probably not due to exposure as the preference persists even if they’ve eaten both before
Effect reduced depending on food location

Question 6

Learning where to look for food - Galef (1988)

Answer 6

Goes to place associated with the demonstrators flavour

Question 7

Fear Learning

Answer 7

lab-reared monkeys can acquire fear of snakes by observation
Pavlovian conditioning
Easier to learn fear of snakes then flowers - innate?

Question 8

Imitation - naturalistic observations

Answer 8

imitation - the behaviour has to have the same topography

are they just copying each other

Question 9

Lab studies of imitation

Answer 9

Could be stimulus enhancement or observational conditioning

Bidirectional control - sees demonstrator so observer does it too