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Review
. 2021 Feb 3;24(2):102117.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102117. eCollection 2021 Feb 19.

Organized to learn: the influence of social structure on social learning opportunities in a group

Bas van Boekholt  1   2 , Erica van de Waal  3 , Elisabeth H M Sterck  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Organized to learn: the influence of social structure on social learning opportunities in a group

Bas van Boekholt et al. iScience. .

Abstract

Social learning, which is a mechanism that allows an individual to acquire skills from other individuals, occurs in a social context. Therefore, factors that influence social context, like social structure, will impact social learning opportunities. This review explores how features of social structure affect social learning opportunities in primates, either through their relationship with social tolerance or through the number of social learning models. Features that are investigated in this review and that we hypothesize affect social learning opportunities are parental investment, dominance hierarchy, nepotism, social bonds, dispersal, group size, fission-fusion dynamics, and sex ratio. For most of these features we find evidence, but support varies. Of all primate species, only humans show all the requirements of an optimal social structure to promote social learning. Future research into social learning and culture should not overlook the social context in which it takes place.

Keywords: Cognitive Neuroscience; Natural Sciences; Sociology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests. Inclusion and diversity statementOne or more of the authors of this article received support from a program designed to increase minority representation in science.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
An infant vervet monkey (Xinji, 2y, male) actively creating a social learning opportunity for novel food by peering at his mother (Xian, 8 years, female) eating a stick insect (Phasmatodea) Photograph was taken by Lukas Schad at the Inkawu Vervet Project, South Africa.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hypothetical figure showing the influence of group size on number of social learning models (dotted line) and social tolerance (dashed line) This has consequences for the social learning opportunities (solid line). When group size increases, the number of social learning models will increase as well. At the same time, social tolerance will decrease due to within-group food competition. These opposing effects will lead to an optimal group size for the maximum amount of social learning opportunities. The slopes of the lines and the resulting optimal group size will depend on different ecological and social factors.
Figure 3
Figure 3
General overview of the different features of social structure that influence social learning opportunities via the number of potential social learning models and social tolerance Features are grouped (dashed lines) along the subsections of the article. Pluses and minuses stand for a, respectively, positive or negative correlation. Arrows are empty (no evidence), lightly filled (only modeling evidence), darker filled (mixed empirical evidence), or fully filled (supporting empirical evidence) depending on the empirical evidence supporting the correlation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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