Chapter 6 - Cultural Transmission

Genetics

*Finches* in the Galapagos ________ AND cultural transmission shape birdsong -Two species live on same island but some cases on interbreeding, despite lack of decreased fitness, it is *rare.* WHY? -Male *birdsong* plays prominent role in mating process -Songs transmitted across generations via cultural transmission when comparing sons, fathers, and grandfathers -Songs of two species diff. from each other -Majority of females *mate w/ birds who sang song appropriate to their species* -Females also *avoid males that sing songs too similar to their fathers,* likely to *avoid mating with a genetic relative* (inbreeding) -In some cases, the male of one species sang song of other species --> resulted in hybrid mating

Young

*What behaviors constitute teaching?* Ex: Female cat captures live prey and allows its young to interact with prey -If mother cats *only engage in this behavior in presence of _______ cats,* may have a *true case of teaching* -Anecdotal evidence of this in domestic cats -Teaching observed in cheetahs but questions as to whether ______ accelerated their hunting skills as a result of these actions

Correspondence Problem

*When thinking critically about imitation:* -When observer attempts to imitate the model, it can only see the model's movements, NOT the individual muscles activating such movements *How does the observer know what to do to make such movements itself?* This is referred to as the ___________ ________

Perspective Taking

*When thinking critically about imitation:* Suppose you (the observer)are facing the model --> Model raises right hand and makes circles --> If you raise the hand on the same side, you would be raising your LEFT hand and *not precisely imitating the model's actions* -If you wish to imitate the action, you need to take into account *relative position between the model and observer* -This is the issue of __________ ________

Helpers

Another example of *teaching in foraging* was found in *meerkats* -Older groupmates called "_______" assist younger pups in catching prey, including dangerous *scorpions* -"_______" modified behavior in costly ways, spending time that they could have used on foraging to help pups and modify prey to facilitate foraging learning in pups -Evidence seen in experiment where when *begging calls* of *older pups* played --> "_______" brought a *live scorpion*, whereas when calls of *younger pups* were played, they were brought a *dead or modified scorpion* (stinger removed)

MRI

Behavioral neuroscience is shedding light on the correspondence problem and perspective-taking issue using _____

Active

Certain sections of the brain are _____ during *imitation* (inferior frontal gyrus, doral & ventral premotor cortex, and more) -Additionally, brains respond *more strongly* to opportunities to imitate an action *performed by another human* than when the same action is performed by a robot

Bobo

Classic example of *social learning* is the *Bandura "_____" doll experiment* -Children learned to *punch * kick* doll from adult vs. children in non-violent condition -Children exposed to violent adult tx chose to play w/ aggressive toys and beat up doll, yelling things they had learned from the adults

Model

Cultural transmission involves a "_______" individual, sometimes called a *tutor*

Observer

Cultural transmission involves an "_________" individual who *learns a specific behavior or response from the model*

Phenotype

Cultural transmission is a system of *information transfer* that affects an individual's __________ by means of either *teaching* or some form of *social learning*

Faster

Cultural transmission is a very *potent* form of information transfer, due to the fact that it operates much ________ than natural selection --> Causing important changes in behavior seen in populations in a *few* or even *a single generation*

Imitation

Defined as the *acquisition of a topographically novel response through observation of demonstrator making that response* -Must be some *new behavior learned from others* -Must involve some *new spatial (topographic) manipulation* as well *Integral* to social learning in animals Ex: Imo and her peers learning her potato washing behavior Ex2: Blue tit birds learning to steal milk w/ aluminum caps Ex3: Birds that observed others using their beaks to access food also used their beaks; others who observed birds using their feet also used their feet

Generations

For *natural selection* to act on a behavior, a *mechanism* for transmitting that behavior *across _________* is required

Cultural Transmission

Genes are *NOT* the only way that traits/behaviors can be transferred They may also be conferred via ________ _________ of behavior --> Defined as the *transfer of information from individual to individual through social learning or teaching -- both within and between generations of animals*

Teaching

Hypothesis that animals are capable of ________ one another is *contentious* -Many definitions, but most include idea that *one individual serves as an instructor and other acts as student who learns -More active, complicated role than being a model For a behavior to be labeled, "_________," the instructor must: 1.*Provide an immediate benefit to students but not to him/herself 2. Must instruct only *naive* "students" 3. Must impart some new info to students *faster than they would otherwise receive it*

Mate-Choice

In _____-_____ copying, individual (usually female) copies the ____ _____ of those around her Ex: In *guppies* --> Once model, observer, and males placed in tank, observer female had time to watch model female near one of 2 males -In most trials, *observer female selected male that model female chose* -_____-_____ copying has been observed in a # of species such as fish, birds, and mammals

Opportunity

In __________ teaching, teachers actively place students in a "situation conducive to learning a new skill or acquiring knowledge." -The *majority* of examples of animal teaching fall under this category, presumable bc this type of teaching is the simpler of the two

Brain Size

In a comprehensive study, found that across 100 species of non-human primates, *significant positive correlation between ______ _____, innovation & tool use frequency* --> Confirming predicted trend: New innovations might arise and spread more often among *large-brained animals* than among small-brained animals Similar trend found in *birds*

Parent/Offspring

One of the common themes in examples of *teaching* is the focus on the ______/_______ relationship --> Most teaching occurs via this relationship -*Genetic kinship makes up for costs of teaching*

Observational

Studies of *cultural transmission in primates* are most often ___________, meaning that they often *lack controlled experimental manipulations that underlie other work on non-human cultural transmission* Ex. of *food washing, stone handling, hammering open nuts, and swatting flies* dramatically illustrates that cultural transmission in animals can be a powerful force

Genes

Through Mendel's work on genetics, it became obvious that ______ provide the *mechanism* through which *traits are transmitted across generations*

Tradition

When a new preference emerges and then becomes common within a group, it is referred to as a _________ Ex: *Meerkat Experiment* -Demonstrator meerkat was trained to prefer one landmark to another, even though both were equally profitable -Other observer meerkats learned, by watching demonstrator, to prefer that landmark (giving rise to ________) -Eventually, other meerkats began exploring other landmark, and learned that it was equally profitable, and so meerkats began spending equal amounts of time at both landmarks --> ________ disappears *Social learning produced a __________, but individual learning led to its demise*

Local Enhancement; Action

William Thorpe coined the term (1) ______ _________ to describe case in which *individuals learn from others*, no so much by doing what they observe, as by *being drawn to a particular area because another individual (the model) was in that location* -Model simply draws attention to some aspect of environment by some (2) _______ it undertakes there -Once observer is drawn to area, learning takes place by *individual learning* *NOT a form of cultural transmission* Ex: Nesting cliff swallows drawn to good foraging areas just because other birds are foraging there

Mirror

Work on *imitation* in monkeys has found that a set of "_______" neurons in the *F5 area* of the *premotor area* of the monkey's brain is *very active& when a monkey *observes an action* -Some of these neurons are *motor neurons* and some are *visual neurons* -An action must first be observed before ______ neurons will fire, suggesting connection to *imitation* -Some evidence suggests that *humans also have these* in an *equivalent brain area* to F5 in monkeys

Social Learning

_______ ________ is defined as the process of *learning by watching others* --> *potent means of cultural transmission* -Also referred to as "observational learning" Ex: Imo the macaque monkey --> Began washing the sand off of sweet potatoes before eating them & separated wheat from sand --> Relatives and peers learned this skill by watching Imo via ______ _______

Social Facilitation

_______ _________ is when the *mere presence* of a model, regardless of what it does, is thought to facilitate learning on the part of an observer Ex: In foraging birds, increased group size caused increased foraging rates per individual, perhaps because individuals had learned that the mere presence of others made them safer

Vertical

_______ cultural transmission occurs when information is transmitted across generations from parent(s) to offspring -May take place through either teaching or social learning -Observed with *dolphins* in *foraging behaviors* --> Dolphins may trap fish by stranding them on beach and surging out of water to catch them by "beaching" -*Rare behavior* bc it's dangerous --> Only calves born to mother that were beachers display this foraging activity

Copying

_______ occurs when an observer repeats what it has seen a model do, and *differs from imitation* in that the action *does not need to be novel and need not involve learning some new topographical action* -Individual can be _______ the action of another even if it already know show to do what the model is doing -Often the observer is *rewarded for behavior that is _____*, typically *extrinsic reward such as food or mate*

Oblique

________ cultural transmission is the transfer of information across generations but *NOT* via parent/offspring interactions -Young animals get info from *adults that are not parents* -Common among species where there is no parental care & there would be more interactions b/w younger & older individuals that are non-relatives -Found in *Rhesus monkey* in the lab for *fear of snakes* when exposed to adults who responded with fear gesture to snakes

Horizontal

__________ cultural transmission occurs via *peers* and is for *children* AND *adults as well* -In humans, ________ transmission is so powerful that adults try to spend time subduing its effects on their offspring -*Foraging in guppies*, individuals learned from peers

Coaching

__________ involves a teacher who directly alters the behavior of students by encouragement or punishment