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Public information use by foraging ninespine sticklebacks : social learning or an unlearned social influence on travel direction?

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Webster_Laland_Behaviour_2015_PURE.pdf (321.7Kb)
Date
05/2015
Author
Webster, Michael Munro
Laland, Kevin Neville
Keywords
Diffusion
Local enhancement
Producer–scrounger
Social learning strategies
Social transmission
QH301 Biology
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Abstract
If we are to understand the cognitive basis and evolutionary origins of a particular behaviour, it is necessary to identify its underlying mechanism. Ninespine sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) can identify the richer of two prey patches by observing other foragers’ success. This may be due to social learning, or an unlearned social effect on travel direction, brought about by the fish being more likely to face and subsequently travel towards areas where they have observed more feeding activity. Here we show that observer orientation does not predict patch choice, and that fish are still more likely to spend more time in richer patches even if they have to take an indirect route to reach them. This suggests that sticklebacks can learn the location of the richer patch through observation, and viewed in conjunction with other published findings, suggests that learned local enhancement lies behind public information use in this species.
Citation
Webster , M M & Laland , K N 2015 , ' Public information use by foraging ninespine sticklebacks : social learning or an unlearned social influence on travel direction? ' , Behaviour , vol. 152 , no. 11 , pp. 1569-1584 . https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003293
Publication
Behaviour
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003293
ISSN
0005-7959
Type
Journal article
Rights
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2015
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6643

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