Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2418777 Animal Behaviour 2008 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

In a series of three experiments, we examined the prediction from formal theories of the evolution of social learning that, all else being equal, animals should be more likely to learn socially from familiar individuals or kin than from unfamiliar individuals or nonkin. In all three experiments, contrary to prediction, naïve Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, were marginally more likely to learn to prefer a food eaten by an unfamiliar than by a familiar conspecific demonstrator. The finding that, when given a choice, naïve rats spent more time near unfamiliar than near familiar demonstrators offers a possible explanation for the observed greater influence of the former compared to the latter on the food choices of their observers.

Related Topics
Life Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences Animal Science and Zoology
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