scholarly journals Social-learning abilities of wild vervet monkeys in a two-step task artificial fruit experiment

2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica van de Waal ◽  
Redouan Bshary
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Artificial Fruit

Philopatric vervet monkey females are the focus of social attention rather independently of rank

Behaviour ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 599-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Renevey ◽  
R. Bshary ◽  
E. van de Waal
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Artificial Fruit ◽  
Group Members

Social learning has potential advantages over individual learning but one challenge is to identify valuable information. One possibility is to not randomly learn from any social partner but mainly from specific role models like for example the mother or high ranking group members. A potential mechanism for such directed social learning could be that individuals observe the actions of role models more often than of other group members. Field experiments showed that in vervet monkeys — a species with female philopatry — dominant females are more closely watched than dominant males in an artificial fruit-type social learning task. Here, we quantified social attention to males and females under natural conditions in six groups of vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) at Loskop Dam Nature Reserve, South Africa. Using the focal sampling method, we quantified the frequencies with which all adult individuals were observed by other group members of known age class, rank, sex and degree of relatedness during foraging bouts and grooming interactions. We found that group members generally paid more attention to females than to males. This effect remained when we excluded matriline members from the analyses. Furthermore, we found that an individual’s rank did not affect the attention it received from other group members. These results suggest that philopatry may promote social attention independently of an individual’s rank and across situations.

scholarly journals Selective attention to philopatric models causes directed social learning in wild vervet monkeys

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1691) ◽  
pp. 2105-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica van de Waal ◽  
Nathalie Renevey ◽  
Camille Monique Favre ◽  
Redouan Bshary
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
Artificial Fruit ◽  
Access To Food

Human behaviour is often based on social learning, a mechanism that has been documented also in a variety of other vertebrates. However, social learning as a means of problem-solving may be optimal only under specific conditions, and both theoretical work and laboratory experiments highlight the importance of a potential model's identity. Here we present the results from a social learning experiment on six wild vervet monkey groups, where models were either a dominant female or a dominant male. We presented ‘artificial fruit’ boxes that had doors on opposite, differently coloured ends for access to food. One option was blocked during the demonstration phase, creating consistent demonstrations of one possible solution. Following demonstrations we found a significantly higher participation rate and same-door manipulation in groups with female models compared to groups with male models. These differences appeared to be owing to selective attention of bystanders to female model behaviour rather than owing to female tolerance. Our results demonstrate the favoured role of dominant females as a source for ‘directed’ social learning in a species with female philopatry. Our findings imply that migration does not necessarily lead to an exchange of socially acquired information within populations, potentially causing highly localized traditions.

scholarly journals Processing of novel food reveals payoff and rank-biased social learning in a wild primate

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Canteloup ◽  
Mabia B. Cera ◽  
Brendan J. Barrett ◽  
Erica van de Waal
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Diffusion Experiment ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Novel Food ◽  
Bias Attention ◽  
Higher Rank ◽  
Learning From Others

AbstractSocial learning—learning from others—is the basis for behavioural traditions. Different social learning strategies (SLS), where individuals biasedly learn behaviours based on their content or who demonstrates them, may increase an individual’s fitness and generate behavioural traditions. While SLS have been mostly studied in isolation, their interaction and the interplay between individual and social learning is less understood. We performed a field-based open diffusion experiment in a wild primate. We provided two groups of vervet monkeys with a novel food, unshelled peanuts, and documented how three different peanut opening techniques spread within the groups. We analysed data using hierarchical Bayesian dynamic learning models that explore the integration of multiple SLS with individual learning. We (1) report evidence of social learning compared to strictly individual learning, (2) show that vervets preferentially socially learn the technique that yields the highest observed payoff and (3) also bias attention toward individuals of higher rank. This shows that behavioural preferences can arise when individuals integrate social information about the efficiency of a behaviour alongside cues related to the rank of a demonstrator. When these preferences converge to the same behaviour in a group, they may result in stable behavioural traditions.

The Ecology of Social Learning in Animals and its Link with Intelligence

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carel van Schaik ◽  
Sereina Graber ◽  
Caroline Schuppli ◽  
Judith Burkart
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
The Social ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Broad Variety

AbstractClassical ethology and behavioral ecology did not pay much attention to learning. However, studies of social learning in nature reviewed here reveal the near-ubiquity of reliance on social information for skill acquisition by developing birds and mammals. This conclusion strengthens the plausibility of the cultural intelligence hypothesis for the evolution of intelligence, which assumes that selection on social learning abilities automatically improves individual learning ability. Thus, intelligent species will generally be cultural species. Direct tests of the cultural intelligence hypothesis require good estimates of the amount and kind of social learning taking place in nature in a broad variety of species. These estimates are lacking so far. Here, we start the process of developing a functional classification of social learning, in the form of the social learning spectrum, which should help to predict the mechanisms of social learning involved. Once validated, the categories can be used to estimate the cognitive demands of social learning in the wild.

Social learning of an artificial fruit task in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).

1999 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Custance ◽  
Andrew Whiten ◽  
Tamar Fredman
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Cebus Apella ◽  
Capuchin Monkeys ◽  
Artificial Fruit

scholarly journals Processing of novel food reveal payoff and rank-biased social learning in a wild primate

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Canteloup ◽  
M.B. Cera ◽  
B.J. Barrett ◽  
E. van de Waal
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Diffusion Experiment ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Cultural Complexity ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Novel Food ◽  
Bias Attention ◽  
Higher Rank ◽  
Social Learning Strategies

AbstractCultural complexity is strongly shaped by the efficiency by which new knowledge is propagated. Different social learning strategies (SLS), where individuals biasedly learn particular behaviors or from specific demonstrators, can contribute to an individual’s success. While SLS have been mostly studied in isolation, their interaction and the interplay between individual and social learning is less understood. We performed a field-based open diffusion experiment in a wild primate. We provided two groups of vervet monkeys with a novel food, unshelled peanuts, and documented how three different peanut opening techniques spread within the groups. We analyzed data using hierarchical Bayesian dynamic learning models that explore the integration of multiple SLS with individual learning. We show that vervets preferentially use the technique yielding the highest observed payoff, and also bias attention toward individuals of higher rank. This shows that traditions may arise when individuals integrate information about the efficiency of a behavior alongside cues related to the rank of a demonstrator.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document