Invertebrate Learning and Memory: Chapter 40. Learning and Decision Making in a Social Context

Invertebrate Learning and Memory: Chapter 40. Learning and Decision Making in a Social Context
ISBN-10
0128071885
ISBN-13
9780128071885
Series
Invertebrate Learning and Memory
Category
Medical
Pages
600
Language
English
Published
2013-06-18
Publisher
Elsevier Inc. Chapters
Authors
Nigel R. Franks, Ana B. Sendova-Franks

Description

We consider issues of social learning in insect societies. Specifically, we review two controversial cases: (1) teaching during tandem running in the rock ant Temnothorax albipennis and (2) colony-level learning during repeated emigrations in the same species. We have selected these examples for several reasons. First, we wish to highlight the value of using insects as model systems for studying social learning in general. Second, these cases serve as an antidote to the notion that social learning requires theories of mind. Third, social insects provide ideal experimental systems for the rigorous examination of the causes and consequences of social learning. We believe our findings and conclusions are important to those interested in social learning in humans, other vertebrates, and invertebrates because they may suggest that in these systems too social learning can occur in the absence of theories of mind.

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