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Flashcards in Social Learning and Cultural Transmission Deck (31)
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1
Q

What is social learning?

A

how the society in which you live alters what you learn

2
Q

What is cultural transmission?

A

A system of information transfer that affects the individual’s phenotype in the sense that part of the phenotype is acquired from others by social learning

3
Q

Why is social learning important?

A

trial & error can be tedious, allows for faster learning, transmission of non genetic information through generations, can have a big impact on a single generation

4
Q

Information transfer by evolutionary means vs Information transfer by cultural transmission

A

Evolu - hundreds of years through genes

Cult - Minutes through observation

5
Q

The ability to learn by social learning is

a) evolved trait
b) acquired trait

A

evolved trait - Animals which show it have a genetic propensity to learn from their neighbours.

6
Q

What is necessary for social learning?

A

genes and the right environment are necessary

7
Q

Describe the spread of social learning in humpback whales

A

Humpbacks blow bubbles to surround fish shoals, to herd them together so they’re easier to catch = “bubble feeding”.
In 1980, one whale invented striking the water surface several times with its tail before blowing the bubbles, a fishing technique now called “lobtail feeding”.
Seemed to be spreading so analysed all the whale data since lobtail fishing was invented and documented its spread through the population.
Spread to 37% of the population
Most whales (87%) who learned the technique, had been within 2 body lengths of other whales that did it, and shoaled with those individuals.

8
Q

Why do rats have neophobia?

A

aversion to novelty

Rats must be very careful what they eat as much of what they find is poisonous.

9
Q

Describe how rats use social learning

A

Galef kept rats in pairs to become “friends”. (important!)
Let one rat, the demonstrator, become hungry.
Offered demonstrator alone one taste of food (cinnamon or cocoa) until he ate it.
Brought the rats together for 15 mins again.
Offered the observer two foods, one of which the demonstrator had eaten.
If demonstrator in good health, observer ate the same food he had eaten.
If demonstrator made to feel sick, observer avoided food demonstrator had eaten.

10
Q

A study by Galef looked at Rat’s social learning when it comes to food - neophobia. What did the results suggest?

A
  • Rats have to know each other well to allow cultural transmission to work.
  • Rats know what each other have been eating.
  • They can assess each other’s state of health.
  • They can act upon this information to avoid dangerous foods and expand their diet to include new good foods.
  • So at least one species can engage in social learning.
11
Q

What is cultural conformity and give an example

A

Individuals joining a group, or growing up in one, may conform to the way things are done by that group, by social learning.
e.g. Rhesus macaques in captivity don’t recognise snakes.
If allowed to observe a macaque who is experienced with snakes responding to a snake….
They learn the aversion too, and respond next time, even when alone.
So they learn predator recognition through social learning.

12
Q

Give an example of beneficial social learning

A

predator recognition in macaques
Rhesus macaques in captivity don’t recognise snakes.
If allowed to observe a macaque who is experienced with snakes responding to a snake….
They learn the aversion too, and respond next time, even when alone.

13
Q

Give an example of maladaptive behavior resulting from social learning

A

e.g. Outdated taboos in Vervet monkeys
Training: Gave 4 groups of vervet monkeys offered trays of blue and pink dyed corn for 3 months.
Groups 1&2 – blue corn made very bitter
Groups 3&4 – pink corn made very bitter.
Each troop easily learned to avoid the colour which was bitter and eat the other colour.
Test: 4 months later all groups offered both food colours again, but now both colours yummy.
All adults continued to avoid the originally bitter food for at least 2 months.
26 of the 27 babies which had been born by then also followed the food choices of thieir group.
7 of 10 immigrants from the other colour preference group immediately copied the colour preference of their new group as soon as they arrived.
Conclusion: Strong cultural conformity,
even by those with the opposite training,
despite no basis for the preference!

14
Q

Describe the maladaption through social learning in guppies

A

Two groups of guppies taught different routes to food, one more efficient than the other.
Gradually replaced demonstrators with new fish.
Cultural transmission by social learning of route
Both schools persisted in their predecessors’ route, even when no original fish left = group tradition.
Persisted despite its inefficiency, so maladaptive.

15
Q

Describe an experiment with blackbirds and predator recognition

A

Showed naïve blackbird (observer) would learn aversion to predator by watching experienced bird (demonstrator) mobbing predator.
Set up so demonstrator sees an owl, and mobs it.
Observer bird sees a harmless sunbird, (or in some experiments, a milk bottle) and thinks that’s the cause of the mobbing response.
Mobs sunbirds (or milk bottles) from then on!
(the experiment with the spinny thing)

16
Q

What are the maladaptive features of social learning?

A

1) Traditions may persist after the conditions have changed e.g. vervets avoiding edible food.
2) Traditions started by a single event, which doesn’t reoccur, may lead to sub-optimal behaviour. e.g. guppies’ training for long route.
3) Message may get corrupted e.g. blackbirds’ mobbing

17
Q

What are the adaptive features of social learning?

A

1) Very fast spread of new ideas/ discoveries
2)Safer as only one animal needs to investigate new dangers, ever.
3) Identity of predators, good food etc. can be passed on to young safely.

18
Q

What do you need for effective cultural transmission?

A

Big Brain
Educated demonstrator
Demonstrator must be living
Social Bond with demonstrator

19
Q

Why do you need a big brain for effective cultural transmission?

A

Larger brained animals show social learning more frequently than smaller brained species….
More brain = more varieties of information passed on.

20
Q

Why do you need an educated demonstrator for effective cultural transmission?

A

Fathead minnow observer (O) responds to the odour of pike (predatory fish) in the water by hiding, but only if a demonstrator (D) is present and responds.
If no demonstrator, fail to respond to pike odour

21
Q

Why do you need a living demonstrator for effective cultural transmission?

A

Rats can easily learn from a demonstrator rat how to push a lever in the right direction to get a reward.
However, if there is no living demonstrator, but the rat sees the lever move by mechanical means, it doesn’t learn.

22
Q

Why do you need a social bond for effective cultural transmission?

A

Starlings can learn to mimic human speech, but only if kept free with the family, not in a cage.
Starling needs to be part of the social group to allow it to copy the “demonstrators” speech.

23
Q

How can a demonstrator prevent learning?

A

Domestic pigeons divide into producers and scroungers.
Offered food in a tube needing opening.
If tested in a group, only a few birds learn to open tube by watching demonstrator.
Of 16 pigeons only 2 learned to open tube (2 producers). The others followed the producers about and ate the food when it spilled on the floor (scroungers).
Were scroungers just lazy and knew how to do it really?
When tested alone, scroungers still couldn’t open tubes, so had failed to learn.
To investigate this blocking, they paired demonstrators with each observer bird in separate cages, so could watch but not scrounge.
All 16 birds learned to open the feeder. So even scroungers could learn.
Then they set up a pipe so that when the demonstrator opened the tube the grain all slid over into the observer’s cage.
Now only 2 observers learned, and 14 didn’t. Scroungers didn’t learn.

24
Q

What are the three types of cultural transmission?

A
Vertical =  learning from parents. Most common as most opportunity
Horizontal = learning from peers, i.e. members of your own age group.
Oblique = learning from adults other than your parents. Especially found in complex social groups with alpha pair as main breeders.
25
Q

Give an example of horizontal transmission

A

Dolphin calves play in more complex ways as they grow.
Most play innovations produced by calves, not adults.
Calves imitated these novel behaviours from each other, spreading the behaviour through the group.
Demonstrates peers may be important catalysts for both cultural innovation and cultural transmission.
The authors hypothesise that the opportunity to interact with peers may be beneficial to the dolphin’s problem-solving ability later in life.

26
Q

Give an example of something that combines vertical and oblique transmission.

A

Some of the best understood cases of social learning, and candidates for true culture, involve bird song.
Demonstrates the importance of social interaction with the demonstrator.
Highlights the combination of genetic propensity with environmental opportunity to learn.
Chicks hear father – learn his song.
Leads to dialects as local differences passed on.

27
Q

Describe the evolution of birdsong dialects

A

Saddleback in New Zealand subject of rare multigenerational study. The males sing highly diverse songs.
These songs shared with neighbouring territories and differ from those further away, so young learn local dialect from father and neighbouring males.
New dialects from errors in song learning. Juvenile birds that suffer even mild nutritional stress during critical period (up to 56 days) often fail to accurately imitate the song of their adult tutor.
New song they sing is passed on to local chicks forming a new dialect.

28
Q

How do new dialects of songs arise in birdsong dialects

A

New dialects from errors in song learning.

29
Q

What birds learn are influenced by what?

A

1) genetic preference for learning their own species song
2) the opportunities provided by environment they are raised in.
3) How close they are socially with the demonstrator
4) How healthy the chicks are during learning.

30
Q

What are the outcomes from social learning?

A

1) New ideas spread very quickly and safely.
2) Local dialects and traditions (culture?).
e. g. birdsong and primate local traditions such as termite fishing and nut cracking.
3) Speciation can result!

31
Q

Give an example of how specification can result from social learning

A

Darwin - Studied two Galapagos Finches: Medium Ground finch and Large Cactus finch
The two species are very similar indeed in appearance.
Cross fostered male cactus finch so he learned to sing ground finch song (through social learning).
Offered them as mates to both species of female.
socially learned song in the males, and socially learned preference in the females is all that separates the species.
female cactus finches not interested in him, but ground finches mated with him; i.e. mated according to song not species.
Repeated with male ground finches – got same result.