scholarly journals Social learning in nest-building birds: a role for familiarity

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1827) ◽  
pp. 20152685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Guillette ◽  
Alice C. Y. Scott ◽  
Susan D. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Conspecific Male ◽  
Error Learning ◽  
First Time

It is becoming apparent that birds learn from their own experiences of nest building. What is not clear is whether birds can learn from watching conspecifics build. As social learning allows an animal to gain information without engaging in costly trial-and-error learning, first-time builders should exploit the successful habits of experienced builders. We presented first-time nest-building male zebra finches with either a familiar or an unfamiliar conspecific male building with material of a colour the observer did not like. When given the opportunity to build, males that had watched a familiar male build switched their material preference to that used by the familiar male. Males that observed unfamiliar birds did not. Thus, first-time nest builders use social information and copy the nest material choices when demonstrators are familiar but not when they are strangers. The relationships between individuals therefore influence how nest-building expertise is socially transmitted in zebra finches.

scholarly journals Physical cognition: birds learn the structural efficacy of nest material

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1784) ◽  
pp. 20133225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida E. Bailey ◽  
Kate V. Morgan ◽  
Marion Bertin ◽  
Simone L. Meddle ◽  
Susan D. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Structural Properties ◽  
Building Material ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Physical Cognition ◽  
String Type ◽  
Short Period

It is generally assumed that birds’ choice of structurally suitable materials for nest building is genetically predetermined. Here, we tested that assumption by investigating whether experience affected male zebra finches’ ( Taeniopygia guttata ) choice of nest material. After a short period of building with relatively flexible string, birds preferred to build with stiffer string while those that had experienced a stiffer string were indifferent to string type. After building a complete nest with either string type, however, all birds increased their preference for stiff string. The stiffer string appeared to be the more effective building material as birds required fewer pieces of stiffer than flexible string to build a roofed nest. For birds that raised chicks successfully, there was no association between the material they used to build their nest and the type they subsequently preferred. Birds’ material preference reflected neither the preference of their father nor of their siblings but juvenile experience of either string type increased their preference for stiffer string. Our results represent two important advances: (i) birds choose nest material based on the structural properties of the material; (ii) nest material preference is not entirely genetically predetermined as both the type and amount of experience influences birds’ choices.

The Spread of Food Producing Techniques in a Captive Flock of Jackdaws

Behaviour ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 267-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beat Wechsler
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Relationship ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Individual Trial ◽  
The Social ◽  
Successful Technique ◽  
Error Learning ◽  
Corvus Monedula

The spread of techniques to get peeled oats from a food dispenser was observed in a captive flock of 28 jackdaws (Corvus monedula) in two replicates. It was hypothesized that the quality of the social relationship between two jackdaws could affect the probability of social learning within that dyad. Therefore technique acquisition of socially bonded dyads (pairs) and socially indifferent dyads (non-pairs) was compared. The results can not falsify the hypothesis of individual learning regardless of the partner's knowledge about a successful technique. Pair members did not learn faster from each other than members of non-pair dyads. Pair members did not preferentially acquire the same technique. There was no indication that the rate of technique acquisition within the flock increased with the number of established technicians. Qualitative observations support the explanation of individual trial-and-error learning.

scholarly journals Trusting and learning from others: immediate and long-term effects of learning from observation and advice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Hertz ◽  
Vaughan Bell ◽  
Nichola Raihani
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Privileged Status ◽  
Error Learning ◽  
Learning From Others

Social learning underpins our species’ extraordinary success. Learning through observation has been investigated in several species but learning from advice – where information is intentionally broadcast – is less understood. We used a pre-registered, online experiment (N=1492) combined with computational modelling to examine learning through observation and advice. Participants were more likely to immediately follow advice than to copy an observed choice but this was dependent upon trust in the adviser: highly paranoid participants were less likely to follow advice in the short-term. Reinforcement learning modelling revealed two distinct patterns regarding the long-term effects of social information: some individuals relied fully on social information whereas others reverted to trial-and-error learning. This variation may affect prevalence and fidelity of socially-transmitted information. Our results highlight the privileged status of advice relative to observation and how assimilation of intentionally-broadcasted information is affected by trust in others.

scholarly journals Neural Circuits Underlying Nest Building in Male Zebra Finches

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 943-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie C Edwards ◽  
Zachary J Hall ◽  
Eira Ihalainen ◽  
Valerie R Bishop ◽  
Elisa T Nicklas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Lateral Septum ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Motor Pathway ◽  
Nest Box ◽  
The Social ◽  
Behavior Network

Abstract Nest building consists of a series of motor actions, which are concomitant with activity in regions of the anterior motor pathway, the social behavior network, and the reward circuity in nest building adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). It is not clear, however, whether this activity is due to nest building, collection, and/or manipulation of nest material. To identify which areas of the brain are specifically involved, we used immunohistochemistry to quantify the immediate early gene c-Fos in male zebra finches that were nest building (Building), birds given a nest box but could interact only with tied down nest material (Fixed), and birds that were not given a nest box or nest material (Control). We investigated the following brain regions: the anterior motor pathway (anterior ventral mesopallium [AMV], AN, anterior striatum [ASt]), areas of the social behavior network (bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, dorsomedial subdivision [BSTmd], lateral septum [LS]), the dopaminergic reward circuitry (ventral tegmental area), and the cerebellum. We found that there was greater Fos immunoreactivity expression in the BSTmd, LS, and AMV with increased material deposition; in LS, AMV ASt, and Folium VI with increased material carrying; in LS, AMV, and ASt with increased nest material tucking; and in LS and all folia (except Folium VIII) with increased tugging at tied down material. These data confirm a functional role for areas of the anterior motor pathway, social behavior network, and the cerebellum in nest material collection and manipulation by birds.

scholarly journals Trusting and learning from others: immediate and long-term effects of learning from observation and advice

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1961) ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Hertz ◽  
Vaughan Bell ◽  
Nichola Raihani
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Privileged Status ◽  
Error Learning ◽  
Learning From Others

Social learning underpins our species's extraordinary success. Learning through observation has been investigated in several species, but learning from advice—where information is intentionally broadcast—is less understood. We used a pre-registered, online experiment ( n = 1492) combined with computational modelling to examine learning through observation and advice. Participants were more likely to immediately follow advice than to copy an observed choice, but this was dependent upon trust in the adviser: highly paranoid participants were less likely to follow advice in the short term. Reinforcement learning modelling revealed two distinct patterns regarding the long-term effects of social information: some individuals relied fully on social information, whereas others reverted to trial-and-error learning. This variation may affect the prevalence and fidelity of socially transmitted information. Our results highlight the privileged status of advice relative to observation and how the assimilation of intentionally broadcast information is affected by trust in others.

Can Imitation in Pigeons be Explained by Local Enhancement Together with Trial-and-Error Learning?

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 459-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daren H. Kaiser ◽  
Thomas R Zentall ◽  
Bennett G Galef
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Food Reward ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Local Enhancement ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Imitative Learning ◽  
Error Learning ◽  
Social Learning Processes

Zentall Sutton and Sherburne (1996) reported that pigeons observing a conspecific demonstrator either step on or peck at a treadle to obtain food subsequently showed a significant tendency to manipulate the treadle as had their demonstrator Zentall et al suggested this finding showed observer pigeons had learned by imitation to peck at or step on the treadle However, the same result might have been obtained if pigeons had learned to step on the treadle by trial and error, and pigeons exposed to a treadle-pecking demonstrator had come to peck at the treadle as a result of nonimitative social-learning processes such as local enhancement or contagion Here we report the results for two control groups showing that pigeons do not learn to step on or peck at a treadle for food reward unless they observe a relevant demonstrator These results considerably strengthen the original conclusion Future research using the two action method to demonstrate imitative learning should include similar controls

scholarly journals Foraging Bumblebees Selectively Attend to Other Types of Bees Based on Their Reward-Predictive Value

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 800
Author(s):  
Jose E. Romero-González ◽  
Amanda L. Royka ◽  
HaDi MaBouDi ◽  
Cwyn Solvi ◽  
Janne-Tuomas Seppänen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Visual Appearance ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Color Cues ◽  
Error Learning

Using social information can be an efficient strategy for learning in a new environment while reducing the risks associated with trial-and-error learning. Whereas social information from conspecifics has long been assumed to be preferentially attended by animals, heterospecifics can also provide relevant information. Because different species may vary in their informative value, using heterospecific social information indiscriminately can be ineffective and even detrimental. Here, we evaluated how selective use of social information might arise at a proximate level in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) as a result of experience with demonstrators differing in their visual appearance and in their informative value as reward predictors. Bumblebees were first trained to discriminate rewarding from unrewarding flowers based on which type of “heterospecific” (one of two differently painted model bees) was next to each flower. Subsequently, these bumblebees were exposed to a novel foraging context with two live painted bees. In this novel context, observer bumblebees showed significantly more social information-seeking behavior towards the type of bees that had predicted reward during training. Bumblebees were not attracted by paint-marked small wooden balls (moved via magnets) or paint-marked non-pollinating heterospecifics (woodlice; Porcellio laevis) in the novel context, indicating that bees did not simply respond to conditioned color cues nor to irrelevant social cues, but rather had a “search image” of what previously constituted a valuable, versus invaluable, information provider. The behavior of our bumblebees suggests that their use of social information is governed by learning, is selective, and extends beyond conspecifics.

scholarly journals Learning to perform auditory discriminations from observation is efficient but less robust than learning from experience

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gagan Narula ◽  
Joshua Herbst ◽  
Richard H.R. Hahnloser
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Robust Inference ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Complex Societies ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Learning From Experience ◽  
Initial Stimulus ◽  
Stimulus Set

AbstractSocial learning enables complex societies. However, it is largely unknown how insights obtained from observation compare with insights gained from trial-and-error, in particular in terms of their robustness. We use aversive reinforcement to train “experimenter” zebra finches to discriminate between auditory stimuli in the presence of an “observer” finch. We find that experimenters are slow to successfully discriminate the stimuli but immediately generalize their ability to a new set of similar stimuli. By contrast, observers subjected to the same task instantly discriminate the initial stimulus set, but require more time for successful generalization. Drawing upon machine learning insights, we suggest that observer learning has evolved to rapidly absorb sensory statistics without pressure to minimize neural resources, whereas learning from experience is endowed with a form of regularization that enables robust inference.

Self-Regulation and Human Progress

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Method ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Human History ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
The Right ◽  
First Time

Does humanity progress primarily through leaders organizing and directing followers, or through trial and error by individuals free to chart their own path? For most of human history ruling classes had the capacity and the desire to tightly regiment society, to the general detriment of progress. But beginning in the 1500s, Europeans developed a series of arguments for simply leaving well enough alone. First in the form of the scientific method, then in the form of free expression, and finally in the form of the continuously, spontaneously reordered free market, people began to accept that progress is hard, and requires that an immense number of mistakes be tolerated so that we may learn from them. This book tells the story of the development of these three ideas, and for the first time tells of the mutual influence among them. It outlines the rise, and dramatic triumph, of each of these self-regulating systems, followed by a surprising rise in skepticism, especially in the economic context. Such skepticism in the 20th century was frequently costly and sometimes catastrophic. Under the right conditions, which are more frequent than generally believed, self-regulating systems in which participants organize themselves are superior. We should accept their turbulence in exchange for the immense progress they generate.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document