Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. Social Learning provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Lala define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students.

Acknowledgments ix1Introduction 1What Is Social Learning? 3Social transmission 5Imitation 9Innovation 9Why Study Social Learning? 11Summary of the Book 142A Brief History of Social Learning Research 16The Evolution of Mind 17Social Learning Mechanisms 20Animal "Culture" 24The Diffusion of Innovations 27Child Development 28Cultural Evolution 30Conclusions 313Methods for Studying Social Learning in the Laboratory 33Traditional Social Learning Studies 35Alternative Experimental Approaches 38Transmission chain studies 40Diffusion studies 47Innovation 50The Biological Bases of Social Learning 52Neuroendocrinological studies 53Social learning of fear 54Neural mechanisms of observational learning 56Conclusions 614Social Learning Mechanisms 62A Classification of Social Learning Mechanisms 63Stimulus enhancement 65Local enhancement 65Observational conditioning 68Response facilitation 69Social facilitation 70Imitation 70Observational R-S learning 77Emulation 77Opportunity providing 78(Inadvertent) coaching 79Distinguishing Social Learning Mechanisms 80Stimulus enhancement 80Local enhancement 81Observational conditioning 83Response facilitation 85Contextual imitation 87Production imitation 89Observational R-S learning 92Emulation 93Opportunity providing 94(Inadvertent) coaching 96A Pragmatic Approach to Characterizing Mechanisms of Social Transmission 96Teaching 98Summary 1045Statistical Methods for Diffusion Data 105Diffusion Curve Analysis 106Network-Based Diffusion Analysis (NBDA) 108Inclusion of individual-level variables 112Model selection and inference 114Modeling multiple diffusions 115Choosing a social network 120"Untransmitted" social effects 121Related methods 122Is NBDA realistic? 123Examples 125Spatial Spread of a Behavioral Trait 125Wave of advance models 125Other approaches for spatial data 127Summary 1286Repertoire-Based Methods for Detecting and Quantifying Social Transmission 129The Group-Contrasts Approach 130The Method of Exclusion 133Basic and advanced methods of exclusion 133Methods for assessing the genetic hypothesis 134Methods for assessing the ecological hypothesis 143Further problems with the method of exclusion 149A Model-Fitting Approach 150A matrix regression approach 150Examples 151A return to group comparisons 154A Causal Modeling Framework 155Relationship to the matrix regression approach 164Ruling out homophily 164Ruling out unknown ecological variables 167Relationship to the method of exclusion 168Conclusions 1687Developmental Methods for Studying Social Learning 172Observational Data 173Describing the developmental process 173Modeling probability of acquisition 177Modeling time of acquisition 179Modeling proficiency of trait performance 184Modeling option choice 185Limitations of observational data 188Experimental Manipulations 188Diffusion experiments 189Manipulation of social experience 191Translocation studies 193Conclusions 1958Social Learning Strategies 196Why Social Learning Is Strategic 196"When" Strategies 203Copy when established behavior is unproductive 203Copy when asocial learning is costly 205Copy when uncertain 210Copy when prior information is outdated 212Copy when dissatisfied 213Is copying a first or last resort? 214"Who" Strategies 215Frequency-dependent biases 216Success biases 221Kin and age biases 225"What" Strategies 226Random Copying 227Statistical Methods for Detecting Social Learning Strategies 229Meta-strategies, Best Strategies, and Hierarchical Control 2329Modeling Social Learning and Culture 235Introduction 235Why model? 235Operationalizing the culture concept 237Parallels between biological and cultural evolution 238Theoretical Approaches to Social Learning and Cultural Evolution 239Population-genetic style models of cultural evolution 239Population-genetic style models of gene-culture coevolution 241Neutral models and random copying 246Social foraging theory 250Spatially explicit models 251Reaction-diffusion models 253Agent-based models 254Phylogenetic models 255Conclusions 25810Conclusions 260References 265Index 301