Recognizing a Swan: Socially-Biased Learning

D. M. Fragaszy & E. Visalberghi
pp. 82-98.

Abstract

Socially-biased learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and important in behavioral biology and in evolution. However, common misconceptions about socially-biased learning stand in the way of its effective study by psychologists, Our aim in this paper is to recruit psychologists’ interest in socially-biased learning by (1) defining this domain, and distinguishing it from imitation, (2) explaining the significance of socially-biased learning in behavioral evolution, (3) recommending comparative methods to analyze socially-biased learning in natural settings. Linked examination of the varying social contexts of practice and the forms and rate of change in individual practice can indicate the extent to which social context accounts for differences in learning. We close with a model of how social bias might modulate learning, and suggest ways of testing this model.

Key words: social learning, niche construction, associative learning, social relationships, traditions