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DTSTART:20140328T193000Z
DTEND:20140328T203000Z
SUMMARY:Dr. Simon Reader
DESCRIPTION:Sociality and animal social learning 



Dr. Simon Reader, Department of Biology, McGill University



Friday, March 28th – 3:30PM – CTTC 4440Q



Faculty Host: Jean-Guy Godin



Animal Behaviour • Social Learning • Adaptation



It is commonly assumed that social learning – learning from others – involves derived cognitive processes that evolve and develop independently. In this talk, I question the independence of social learning and discuss the evidence for social learning as an adaptive specialisation. I will review experimental work with fish, rodents and humans that demonstrates that current, recent and early life experience all predict the reliance on social information, and thus can potentially explain variation in social learning as a result of experiential effects rather than evolved differences. Comparative work with primates supports the idea that social learning evolves together with other cognitive processes, while work on primate parasite transmission suggests that social learning may also carry specific costs. I will conclude with discussion of possible approaches to the investigation of social learning as an adaptive specialisation, including discussion of recent work on nonapeptide systems in tropical fish.
LOCATION:4440Q Carleton Technology and Training Centre, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
URL:
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