scholarly journals Evolution of individual versus social learning on social networks

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (104) ◽  
pp. 20141285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohei Tamura ◽  
Yutaka Kobayashi ◽  
Yasuo Ihara
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Cultural Models ◽  
Average Frequency ◽  
Complete Graphs

A number of studies have investigated the roles played by individual and social learning in cultural phenomena and the relative advantages of the two learning strategies in variable environments. Because social learning involves the acquisition of behaviours from others, its utility depends on the availability of ‘cultural models’ exhibiting adaptive behaviours. This indicates that social networks play an essential role in the evolution of learning. However, possible effects of social structure on the evolution of learning have not been fully explored. Here, we develop a mathematical model to explore the evolutionary dynamics of learning strategies on social networks. We first derive the condition under which social learners (SLs) are selectively favoured over individual learners in a broad range of social network. We then obtain an analytical approximation of the long-term average frequency of SLs in homogeneous networks, from which we specify the condition, in terms of three relatedness measures, for social structure to facilitate the long-term evolution of social learning. Finally, we evaluate our approximation by Monte Carlo simulations in complete graphs, regular random graphs and scale-free networks. We formally show that whether social structure favours the evolution of social learning is determined by the relative magnitudes of two effects of social structure: localization in competition, by which competition between learning strategies is evaded, and localization in cultural transmission, which slows down the spread of adaptive traits. In addition, our estimates of the relatedness measures suggest that social structure disfavours the evolution of social learning when selection is weak.

scholarly journals Testing differential use of payoff-biased social learning strategies in children and chimpanzees

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1868) ◽  
pp. 20171751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian L. Vale ◽  
Emma G. Flynn ◽  
Jeremy Kendal ◽  
Bruce Rawlings ◽  
Lydia M. Hopper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Beneficial Traits ◽  
Children’S Behaviour ◽  
Social Exposure ◽  
Reward Information ◽  
Social Learning Strategies ◽  
Exchange Behaviour

Various non-human animal species have been shown to exhibit behavioural traditions. Importantly, this research has been guided by what we know of human culture, and the question of whether animal cultures may be homologous or analogous to our own culture. In this paper, we assess whether models of human cultural transmission are relevant to understanding biological fundamentals by investigating whether accounts of human payoff-biased social learning are relevant to chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ). We submitted 4- and 5-year-old children ( N = 90) and captive chimpanzees ( N = 69) to a token–reward exchange task. The results revealed different forms of payoff-biased learning across species and contexts. Specifically, following personal and social exposure to different tokens, children's exchange behaviour was consistent with proportional imitation, where choice is affected by both prior personally acquired and socially demonstrated token–reward information. However, when the socially derived information regarding token value was novel, children's behaviour was consistent with proportional observation; paying attention to socially derived information and ignoring their prior personal experience. By contrast, chimpanzees' token choice was governed by their own prior experience only, with no effect of social demonstration on token choice, conforming to proportional reservation. We also find evidence for individual- and group-level differences in behaviour in both species. Despite the difference in payoff strategies used, both chimpanzees and children adopted beneficial traits when available. However, the strategies of the children are expected to be the most beneficial in promoting flexible behaviour by enabling existing behaviours to be updated or replaced with new and often superior ones.

scholarly journals Strategic Social Learning and the Population Dynamics of Human Behavior: The Game of Go

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bret A Beheim ◽  
Calvin Thigpen ◽  
Richard McElreath
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Social Learning Processes

Human culture is widely believed to undergo evolution, via mechanisms rooted in the nature of human cognition. A number of theories predict the kinds of human learning strategies, as well as the population dynamics that result from their action. There is little work, however, that quantitatively examines the evidence for these strategies and resulting cultural evolution within human populations. One of the obstacles is the lack of individual-level data with which to link transmission events to larger cultural dynamics. Here, we address this problem with a rich quantitative database from the East Asian board game known as Go. We draw from a large archive of Go games spanning the last six decades of professional play, and find evidence that the evolutionary dynamics of particular cultural variants are driven by a mix of individual and social learning processes. Particular players vary dramatically in their sensitivity to population knowledge, which also varies by age and nationality. The dynamic patterns of opening Go moves are consistent with an ancient, ongoing arms race within the game itself.

scholarly journals Collapse and rescue of cooperation in evolving dynamic networks

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erol Akçay
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Dynamic Networks ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Realistic Model ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Social Traits ◽  
The Social ◽  
Average Fitness

AbstractThe evolutionary dynamics of social traits depend crucially on the social structure of a population, i.e., who interacts with whom. A large body of work studies the effect of social structure on behaviors such as cooperation, but relatively little is known about how social structure itself coevolves with social traits. Here, I use a simple yet realistic model of within-group social structure to study such coevolution. In this model, social connections are either inherited from a parent or made with random individuals. My model shows cooperation can evolve when individuals make few random connections, but the presence of cooperation selects for increased rates of random connections, which leads to the collapse of cooperation. Inherent costs of social connections can prevent this negative feedback, but the more beneficial cooperation is, the higher linking costs have to be maintain it, and linking costs can negate some or all of the aggregate benefits of cooperation. Exogenously maintained social inheritance can mitigate the latter problem and allow cooperation to persist and increase the average fitness of a population. These results illustrate how coevolutionary dynamics can constrain the long-term persistence of cooperation.

scholarly journals On the evolutionary feedback between genes and their extended effects in dispersal-limited groups where ecological (or cultural) inheritance is non-random within groups

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Mullon ◽  
Joe Yuichiro Wakano ◽  
Hisashi Ohtsuki
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Cultural Inheritance ◽  
Selection Gradient ◽  
Genetic Transmission ◽  
Ecological Inheritance ◽  
Limited Dispersal ◽  
Genetically Determined

AbstractOrganisms continuously modify their living conditions via extended genetic effects on their environment, microbiome, and in some species culture. These effects can impact the fitness of current but also future conspecifics due to non-genetic transmission via ecological or cultural inheritance. In this case, selection on a gene with extended effects depends on the degree to which current and future genetic relatives are exposed to modified conditions. Here, we detail the selection gradient on a quantitative trait with extended effects in a patch-structured population, when gene flow between patches is limited and ecological inheritance within patches can be biased towards offspring. Such a situation is relevant to understand evolutionary driven changes in individual condition that can be preferentially transmitted from parent to offspring, such as micro-environments (e.g., nests), pathogens or microbiome, and culture. Our analysis quantifies how the interaction between limited gene flow and biased ecological inheritance influences the joint evolutionary dynamics of traits together with the conditions they modify, helping understand adaptation via non-genetic modifications. As an illustration, we apply our analysis to a gene-culture coevolution scenario in which genetically-determined learning strategies coevolve with adaptive knowledge. In particular, we show that when social learning is synergistic, selection can favour strategies that generate remarkable levels of knowledge under intermediate levels of both vertical cultural transmission and limited dispersal. More broadly, our theory yields insights into the interplay between genetic and non-genetic inheritance, with implications for how organisms evolve to transform their environments.

scholarly journals Experiments in artificial culture: from noisy imitation to storytelling robots

2021 ◽  
Vol 377 (1843) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan F. T. Winfield ◽  
Susan Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Collective Knowledge ◽  
Cumulative Culture ◽  
Artificial Culture ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Recent Experimental Work

This paper presents a series of experiments in collective social robotics, spanning more than 10 years, with the long-term aim of building embodied models of (aspects of) cultural evolution. Initial experiments demonstrated the emergence of behavioural traditions in a group of social robots programmed to imitate each other’s behaviours (we call these Copybots). These experiments show that the noisy (i.e. less than perfect fidelity) imitation that comes for free with real physical robots gives rise naturally to variation in social learning. More recent experimental work extends the robots’ cognitive capabilities with simulation-based internal models, equipping them with a simple artificial theory of mind. With this extended capability we explore, in our current work, social learning not via imitation but robot–robot storytelling, in an effort to model this very human mode of cultural transmission. In this paper, we give an account of the methods and inspiration for these experiments, the experiments and their results, and an outline of possible directions for this programme of research. It is our hope that this paper stimulates not only discussion but suggestions for hypotheses to test with the Storybots. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines’.

scholarly journals Trait specialization, innovation, and the evolution of culture in fluctuating environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Deffner ◽  
Anne Kandler
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Moran Model ◽  
Fast Adaptation ◽  
Innovation Rate ◽  
Genetically Determined

AbstractIndividuals often respond phenotypically to environmental challenges by innovating and adopting novel behavioral variants. Behavioral (or ‘cultural’) variants are defined here as alternative ways to solve adaptive problems, such as finding food or building shelter. In unpredictable environments, individuals must both be able to adapt to current conditions but also to cope with potential changes in these conditions, they must “hedge their evolutionary bets” against the variability of the environment. Here, we loosely apply this idea to the context of behavioral adaptation and develop an evolutionary model, where cultural variants differ in their level of generality, i.e. the range of environmental conditions in which they provide fitness benefits: generalist variants are characterized by large ranges, specialist variants by small ranges. We use a Moran model (with additional learning opportunities) and assume that each individual’s propensity for innovation is genetically determined, while the characteristics of cultural variants can be modified through processes of individual and social learning. Our model demonstrates that flexibly adjusting the level of generality allows individuals to navigate the trade-off between fast and reliable initial adaptation and the potential for long-term improvements. In situations with many (social or individual) learning opportunities, no adjustment of the innovation rate, i.e. the propensity to learn individually, is required to adapt to changed environmental conditions: fast adaptation is guaranteed by solely adjusting the level of generality of the cultural variants. Few learning opportunities, however, require both processes, innovation and trait generality, to work hand in hand. To explore the effects of different modes of innovation, we contrast independent invention and modification and show that relying largely on modifications improves both short-term and long-term adaptation. Further, inaccuracies in social learning provide another source of variant variation that facilitates adaptation after an environmental change. However, unfaithful learning is detrimental to long-term levels of adaptation. Our results demonstrate that the characteristics of cultural variants themselves can play a major role in the adaptation process and influence the evolution of learning strategies.

scholarly journals How demographic processes shape animal social networks

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daizaburo Shizuka ◽  
Allison E Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Social Network Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
Animal Social Networks

Abstract Demographic processes play a key role in shaping the patterns of social relations among individuals in a population. Social network analysis is a powerful quantitative tool for assessing the social structure formed by associations between individuals. However, demographic processes are rarely accounted for in such analyses. Here, we summarize how the structure of animal social networks is shaped by the joint effects of social behavior and turnover of individuals and suggest how a deeper understanding of these processes can open new, exciting avenues for research. Death or dispersal can have the direct effect of removing an individual and all its social connections, and can also have indirect effects, spurring changes in the distribution of social connections between remaining individuals. Recruitment and integration of juveniles and immigrant into existing social networks are critical to the emergence and persistence of social network structure. Together, these behavioral responses to loss and gain of social partners may impact how societies respond to seasonal or catastrophic turnover events. The fitness consequences of social position (e.g., survival and reproductive rates) may also create feedback between the social network structure and demography. Understanding how social structure changes in response to turnover of individuals requires further integration between long-term field studies and network modeling methods. These efforts will likely yield new insights into the connections between social networks and life history, ecological change, and evolutionary dynamics.

scholarly journals Learning strategies and long-term memory in Asian short-clawed otters ( Aonyx cinereus )

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 201215
Author(s):  
Alexander M. Saliveros ◽  
Eleanor C. Blyth ◽  
Carrie Easter ◽  
Georgina V. Hume ◽  
Fraser McAusland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Social Learning Strategies

Social learning, where information is acquired from others, is taxonomically widespread. There is growing evidence that animals selectively employ ‘social learning strategies', which determine e.g. when to copy others instead of learning asocially and whom to copy. Furthermore, once animals have acquired new information, e.g. regarding profitable resources, it is beneficial for them to commit it to long-term memory (LTM), especially if it allows access to profitable resources in the future. Research into social learning strategies and LTM has covered a wide range of taxa. However, otters (subfamily Lutrinae), popular in zoos due to their social nature and playfulness, remained neglected until a recent study provided evidence of social learning in captive smooth-coated otters ( Lutrogale perspicillata ), but not in Asian short-clawed otters ( Aonyx cinereus ). We investigated Asian short-clawed otters' learning strategies and LTM performance in a foraging context. We presented novel extractive foraging tasks twice to captive family groups and used network-based diffusion analysis to provide evidence of a capacity for social learning and LTM in this species. A major cause of wild Asian short-clawed otter declines is prey scarcity. Furthering our understanding of how they learn about and remember novel food sources could inform key conservation strategies.

scholarly journals Chytrost bez porozumění: hypotéza kulturní inteligence a její limity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Petr Matějíček
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Human Reasoning ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Social Learning Strategies

Humans are remarkably adaptable, and therefore a successful species. There are many speculative answers to the question of why this is so. One of them represents the cultural intelligence hypothesis, which consid-ers cultural learning skills as the key to human success. This work aims to present the hypothesis of cultural intelligence as a viable alternative to more conventional approaches within the debate about the origin of human intelligence, such as the hypothesis of general and improvisational intelligence. Theirmutual comparison shows that cultural intelligence hypothesis must necessarily work with flexible social learning strategies to describe cultural transmission, thus losing part of its explanatory power. As the theory of metacognitive strategies of social learning by cognitive psychologist Cecilia Heyes shows, there is a way to combine the flexibility of human reasoning with the “stupid” process of cultural selection.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document