Social Learning: An Introduction to Mechanisms, Methods, and Models
William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Laland
Abstract
Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. This book provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. It defines the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory ... More
Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. This book provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. It defines the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. It presents techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. It also describes the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduces readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students.
Keywords:
social learning,
behavioral research,
cultural evolution,
statistical modeling,
behavior,
research methods,
social learning strategies,
mathematical methods
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2013 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780691150703 |
| Published to Princeton Scholarship Online: October 2017 |
DOI:10.23943/princeton/9780691150703.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
William Hoppitt, author
University of St. Andrews
Kevin N. Laland, author
University of St. Andrews
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