The role of context, colour and location cues in socially learned novel food source preferences in starlings, Sternus vulgaris.
Behav Processes
; 84(2): 608-16, 2010 Jun.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20385212
ABSTRACT
Although the opportunity for errors in social learning is widely recognised, as yet little research has been directed towards understanding specific inaccuracies, biases and limitations in social learning and the mechanisms that give rise to them. In two experiments I ask how starlings, Sternus vulgaris, identify exemplars of novel feeders previously learned about socially. I find that starlings have a stronger response to feeders in the same context as that in which social learning took place, compared to identical and nonidentical feeders in a different context. Within a context that matches where social learning took place, starlings prefer feeders that show the same location and colour as the feeder demonstrated by the demonstrator starling, and show no preference when colour and location cues are dissociated. This suggests that starlings are relatively accurate social learners, since they show strong responses to novel foraging options only if they match the context, colour and location of options learned about socially, and they do so after very few trials. Furthermore, the responses of the subjects were compatible with conditioned learning-like mechanisms, which provide a useful basis for the further investigation of the origins and implications of errors in social learning.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Conducta Social
/
Señales (Psicología)
/
Estorninos
/
Conducta Alimentaria
/
Aprendizaje
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Behav Processes
Año:
2010
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Reino Unido