Mammalian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives

by Edited by Hilary O. Box , Kathleen R. Gibson

• ISBN13: 9780521031950
• ISBN10: 0521031958
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-23
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Social learning commonly refers to the social transfer of information and skill among individuals. It encompasses a wide range of behaviours that include where and how to obtain food, how to interact with members of one's own social group, and to identify and respond appropriately to predators. The behaviour of experienced individuals provides natural sources of information, by which inexperienced individuals may learn about the opportunities and hazards of their environment, and develop and modify their own behaviour as a result. A wide diversity of species is discussed in this book, some of which have never been discussed in this context before, and particular reference is made to their natural life strategies. Social learning in humans is also considered by comparison with other mammals, especially in their technological and craft traditions. Moreover, a discussion is included of the social learning abilities of prehistoric hominids.

Table of Contents

List of contributors

Preface

New Perspectives in Studies of Social Learning: Editors- comments

The myth of peculiar primates

New directions in the study of primate learning

Temperament and socially mediated learning among primates

Evolutionary biology of skill and information transfer

Social Learning Among Species of Terrestrial Herbivores: Editors- comments

Social learning in marsupials

The social context for learning and behavioural development among wild African elephants

Comparative social learning among arctic herbivores: the caribou, muskox and arctic hare

Transmission of olfactory information from mother to young in the European rabbit

Social transfer of information in domestic animals

Rats, Bats and Naked Mole-Rats: Animals With Information Centres: Editors- comments

Exploring the dynamics of social transmission with rats

Social influences on foraging in bats

Social transmission of information in a eusocial rodent, the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

Social Learning Among Species of Terrestrial Carnivores: Editors- comments

Opportunities for social learning in bears

Watch with mother: a review of social learning in the Felidae

Social learning in canids: an ecological perspective

Dolphins and Whales: Communication and Foraging in Aquatic Environments: Editors- comments

Social learning in cetaceans: hunting, hearing and hierarchies

Origins and implications of vocal learning in bottlenose dolphins

The Great Ape-Human Adaptation: Culture and the Cognitive Niche: Editors- comments

Cognition in great ape ecology: skill-learning ability opens up foraging opportunities

Social transmission of facts and skills in the human species: neural mechanisms

Cultural learning in hominids: a behavioural ecological approach

Imitation and cultural change: a view from the Stone Age, with specific reference to the manufacture of handaxes

Concluding Remarks

Social learning and behavioural strategies among mammals

Index

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