PSYC 355 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: List Of Songs Recorded By The Seekers, Phenotypic Plasticity, New Caledonian Crow
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13 Oct 2018
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LECTURE 8 (Week 9): Social Learning
Lecture Outline
FAQ
Matters arising from the lab session
Upcoming lab sessions
1. Introduction to Social Learning
2. Evolution of Social Learning
3. Selectivity of Social Learning
4. Types of Social Learning
5. Testing for Imitation
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1. Introduction to Social Learning
Social Learning:
Learning through observation of others’ actions, or the products of others’ actions
Examples:
A. White Crowned Sparrow song learning – Biological predisposition – what’s built
into the bird if they didn’t have any input from other species
•
2. The Development of Tool Use
A. Tool Manufacture
Trial and error (individual learning)?
Learning from others (social learning)?
Studies of New Caledonian Crows
• original isolate bird – produces something
o requires input and experience of hearing other members of the group
= social learning
▪ can work upon behaviours that might be part of the species’
repertoire even when they might not use it
B. New Caledonian Crow tools
• do some of the behaviour on their own
• exposure to other bird behaviours that allows for good tool using
C. Chimpanzee tools
• behaviours learned from watching
o no one teaches them
• important aspect of social learning via watching
o use trial learning (asocial learning) to become better at task