Social learning is said to occur when social interaction facilitates the acquisition of a novel pattern of behaviour. It usually takes the form of an experienced animal (the demonstrator) performing a behaviour such that a naive animal (the observer) subsequently expresses the same novel behaviour, earlier or more completely than it would have done using individual learning. Social learning is involved in the transmission of a great variety of behaviours, e.g. tool-use, food preferences, and has also been implicated in maladaptive behaviours such as stereotypies in voles. In studies of social learning, the observers usually see the demonstrators receive a reward for performing the required behaviour. But, the role of the reward has rarely been investigated and results have been equivocal. Understanding the role of demonstrator reward on social learning is necessary to assess the cognitive abilities of individuals of different species, and aids understanding of the transmission of maladaptive behaviours.
Roosts as information centres: social learning of food preferences in bats