Social learning strategies : bridge-building between fields
Abstract
While social learning is widespread, indiscriminate copying of others is rarely beneficial. Theory suggests individuals should be selective in what, when and whom they copy, by following “social learning strategies” (SLSs). The SLS concept has stimulated extensive experimental work, integrated theory and empirical findings, and created impetus to the social learning and cultural evolution fields. However, the SLS concept needs updating to accommodate recent findings that individuals switch between strategies flexibly, that multiple strategies are deployed simultaneously, and that there is no one-to-one correspondence between psychological heuristics deployed and resulting population-level patterns. The field would also benefit from simultaneous study of mechanism and function.
Citation
Kendal , R , Boogert , N , Rendell , L , Laland , K N , Webster , M & Jones , P 2018 , ' Social learning strategies : bridge-building between fields ' , Trends in Cognitive Sciences , vol. 22 , no. 7 , pp. 651-665 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.003
Publication
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1364-6613Type
Journal item
Rights
Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Ltd. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.003
Description
Research supported in part by two John Templeton Foundation grants (60501; 40128) to K.N.L. and a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin fellowship to N.J.B.Collections
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