A Comparative Approach to Social Learning from The
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A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO SOCIAL LEARNING FROM THE BOTTOM UP Eóin P. O’ Sullivan Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Division University of Stirling September 2015 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to examine the cognitive processes of social learning from the bottom up. In the field of comparative psychology, an overemphasis on understanding complex cognitive processes in nonhuman animals (e.g. empathy, imitation), may be detrimental to the study of simpler mechanisms. In this thesis, I report five studies of simple cognitive processes related to social learning. A series of experiments with human children and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus sp.), examined action imitation and identified a possible role for associative learning in the development of this ability. An analysis of observational data from captive capuchins explored a number of lesser-studied social learning phenomena, including behavioural synchrony, the neighbour effect, and group-size effects. The results of this study emphasise the importance of exploring behaviour at a number of levels to appreciate the dynamic nature of social influence. Two final experiments examined social contagion in capuchin monkeys, and highlight the importance of describing the relationship between behaviour and emotion to properly understand more complex social cognition. Together, these studies demonstrate how approaching human and nonhuman behaviour from the bottom up, as well as from the top down, can contribute to a better comparative science of social learning. ii Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without being granted the opportunity to study the capuchins at Living Links and my thanks are extended to Prof Andrew Whiten, the Director, and Dr Amanda Seed, the Deputy Director. Many thanks to Dr Nicolas Claidiére and Dr Emily Messer for welcoming me into their research group, and for their constant mentoring and rewarding friendships since. I am grateful for stimulating discussions about animal minds, and for the friends who facilitated them, including Mark Bowler, Maribel Recharte, Savita Bernal, Luz-Maria Guevera, Alaina Macri, Andrea Ravignani, Ruth Sonnweber, and Lara Wood. Thanks to the wonderful keepers at Living Links, especially Jennifer Appleyard, Debbie Bryson, Amanda Dennis, Alison Dowling, Jamie Norris, Sophie Pearson, and Roslin Talbot. This work would not have been possible without the exceptional care you provide for the primates at Edinburgh Zoo. I am very thankful to Martina Stocker who assisted with the design, data collection and analysis stages of the projects reported in Chapters 5 and 6. I am also thankful for the advice of Simone Bijvoet-van den Berg when designing iii and piloting the study reported in Chapter 3. At Stirling, thanks to the members of the Behaviour and Evolution Research Group, especially Prof Hannah Buchanan-Smith, Prof Phyllis Lee, Prof Jim Anderson and Dr Sarah-Jane Vick, for your constant encouragement, and your passion for animal behaviour and cognition. I consider myself lucky to be a member of such a wonderful group. Also, a massive thank you to Aileen Schmidt and Sarah Thorburn for their help when working with the playgroup. I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Prof Christine Caldwell, for years of encouragement, guidance, and enthusiasm for this work. Thank you for inspiring me to ask interesting questions, and to think carefully about the answers. I would like to thank my friends, Claire McCarthy, Shane Walsh, Phil Stack, Melissa Knox, Callum Knox, Malavika Narayana, Michelle Klailova, and Adam Milligan for their years of friendship, encouragement, and advice. Thanks to Olivia Kirtley and Caroline Allen – “PhD-ers in crime”. It’s been a bumpy ride- but it’s been easier with friends. iv I thank my partner, Cara Mannix, for her patience when I ramble, her ear when I rant, and her friendship, always. And finally, I thank my family. I cannot describe the gratitude I feel towards my parents and to my brothers and sister who continue to do so much for me. Thank you all. Sin é. v Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... iii Contents ........................................................................................................................ vi Chapter 1: General Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Differentiating the mechanisms of social learning ................................................ 2 Learning from behaviour .......................................................................................... 5 Imitation .............................................................................................................................. 5 Social contagion ................................................................................................................ 13 Learning from products .......................................................................................... 19 Enhancement effects: The stimulus and the location .................................................. 20 Emulation .......................................................................................................................... 25 Learning from presence ........................................................................................... 28 Social facilitation .............................................................................................................. 29 Group-size effects ............................................................................................................. 31 Social learning from the bottom up ....................................................................... 32 An associative account of social learning ............................................................. 36 Thesis goals ............................................................................................................... 40 Chapter 2: Automatic imitation in capuchin monkeys ........................................ 43 Experiment 1: Methods ........................................................................................... 56 Animals and research site ............................................................................................... 56 Materials ............................................................................................................................ 57 Procedure .......................................................................................................................... 59 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 63 Software ............................................................................................................................. 64 Experiment 1: Results .............................................................................................. 64 Experiment 2: Methods: .......................................................................................... 68 Subjects .............................................................................................................................. 68 Procedure .......................................................................................................................... 68 vi Data analyses .................................................................................................................... 70 Experiment 2: Results .............................................................................................. 71 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 3: Automatic imitation in children ........................................................... 82 Methods ................................................................................................................... 100 Participants ...................................................................................................................... 100 Materials .......................................................................................................................... 101 Design .............................................................................................................................. 101 Procedure ........................................................................................................................ 103 Video Coding .................................................................................................................. 105 Data analyses .................................................................................................................. 106 Statistical Software ......................................................................................................... 108 Results ...................................................................................................................... 108 Stimuli Effects ................................................................................................................. 111 Order Effects ................................................................................................................... 113 Age effects ......................................................................................................................