Social Learning (additional)

Question 1

Teaching - Def.

Answer 1

Active involvement of skilled individuals facilitates learning by naive conspecifics.

Question 2

Teaching - Criteria (functional, cognitive)

Answer 2

For functional definition:
- Model modifies behaviour in presence of naive observer
- Model incurs come costs, no immediate benefit
- Observers acquire skills more rapidly/efficiently
> Quite some evidence in animal kingdom

For cognitive definition:
- Demonstrating how goal can be reached
- Responding to others’ (unskilled) behaviour
- Understanding others’ mental state (ToM; knowledge, belief)
> No evidence in animal kingdom so far

Question 3

Teaching - Evidence in animal kingdom

Answer 3

• Anecdotes for ‘intentional’ teaching in apes: Hand-correction
• Helpers in meerkats (functional): Scorpion (prey interaction)
• Scouts in rock ants: Carrying or tandem-walking of naive consp. to new nest site

Question 4

Social transmission - Def. + criteria

Answer 4

Process of information acquisition

• Rapid spread of behavioural variant within group
• Diff. betw. groups/populations