Social learning refers to learning that is facilitated by observation of, or interaction with, another animal or its products. Social learning has been observed in a variety of animal taxa, such as insects, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals (including primates).
Social learning is fundamentally different from individual learning, or asocial learning, which involves learning the appropriate responses to an environment through experience and trial and error. Though asocial learning may result in the acquisition of reliable information, it is often costly for the individual to obtain. Therefore, individuals that are able to capitalize on other individuals' self-acquired information may experience a fitness benefit. However, because social learning relies on the actions of others rather than direct contact, it can be unreliable. This is especially true in variable environments, where appropriate behaviors may change frequently. Consequently, social learning is most beneficial in stable environments, in which predators, food, and other stimuli are not likely to change rapidly.
When social learning is actively facilitated by an experienced individual, it is classified as teaching. Mechanisms of inadvertent social learning relate primarily to psychological processes in the observer, whereas teaching processes relate specifically to activities of the demonstrator. Studying the mechanisms of information transmission allows researchers to better understand how animals make decisions by observing others' behaviors and obtaining information.
Social learning mechanisms
Social learning occurs when one individual influences the learning of another through various processes. In local enhancement and opportunity providing, the attention of an individual is drawn to a specific location or situation. In stimulus enhancement, emulation, observational conditioning, the observer learns the relationship between a stimulus and a result but does not directly copy the behavior of the experienced individual. In imitation, the observer directly copies the behavior of the animal in order to complete a novel task. In emulation, the observer learns a goal from the observed animal’s behavior and seeks to achieve the same results while not following all of the same steps. All of these mechanisms are possible through inadvertent social learning, without active facilitation from the experienced individual. When an individual more actively influences another's behavior through any one of these mechanisms, the individual becomes a teacher.
Local enhancement
In local enhancement, a demonstrator attracts an observer's attention to a particular location. One seminal study with guppies (Poecilia reticulata) demonstrated how local enhancement influenced foraging behavior. Untrained adult female guppies (observers) were given five days of experience swimming with demonstrator fish trained to take one of two equivalent routes to food. When these observers were later isolated, they preferentially used the route their demonstrators had used. These results indicate that guppies learn about their local environments through the social learning mechanism of local enhancement.
Local enhancement has also been observed to transmit foraging information in among birds, rats, and pigs.
