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Book Social Learning and Innovation in Contemporary Hunter Gatherers

Download or read book Social Learning and Innovation in Contemporary Hunter Gatherers written by Hideaki Terashima and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-22 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to examine social learning and innovation in hunter–gatherers from around the world. More is known about social learning in chimpanzees and nonhuman primates than is known about social learning in hunter–gatherers, a way of life that characterized most of human history. The book describes diverse patterns of learning and teaching behaviors in contemporary hunter–gatherers from the perspectives of cultural anthropology, ecological anthropology, biological anthropology, and developmental psychology. The book addresses several theoretical issues including the learning hypothesis which suggests that the fate of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in the last glacial period might have been due to the differences in learning ability. It has been unequivocally claimed that social learning is intrinsically important for human beings; however, the characteristics of human learning remain under a dense fog despite innumerable studies with children from urban–industrial cultures. Controversy continues on problems such as: do hunter–gatherers teach? If so, what types of teaching occur, who does it, how often, under what contexts, and so on. The book explores the most basic and intrinsic aspects of social learning as well as the foundation of innovative activities in everyday activities of contemporary hunter–gatherer people across the earth. The book examines how hunter-gatherer core values, such as gender and age egalitarianism and extensive sharing of food and childcare are transmitted and acquired by children. Chapters are grouped into five sections: 1) theoretical perspectives of learning in hunter–gatherers, 2) modes and processes of social learning in hunter–gatherers, 3) innovation and cumulative culture, 4) play and other cultural contexts of social learning and innovation, 5) biological contexts of learning and innovation. Ideas and concepts based on the data gathered through an intensive fieldwork by the authors will give much insight into the mechanisms and meanings of learning and education in modern humans.

Book Chimpanzee Cultures

    Book Details:
  • Author : Richard W. Wrangham
  • Publisher : Harvard University Press
  • Release : 1996
  • ISBN : 9780674116634
  • Pages : 454 pages

Download or read book Chimpanzee Cultures written by Richard W. Wrangham and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compares and contrasts the ecology, social relations, and cognition of chimpanzees, bonobos, and occasionally, gorillas.

Book Social Learning from Video Demonstrations in Chimpanzees  Pan Troglodytes   Children  Homo Sapiens   and Ravens  Corvus Corax

Download or read book Social Learning from Video Demonstrations in Chimpanzees Pan Troglodytes Children Homo Sapiens and Ravens Corvus Corax written by Elizabeth E. Price and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The capacity for cumulatively complex and constructive technologies is a hallmark of human cognitive ability. Many species use tools, yet the breadth, adaptability, and inventiveness of human tool use distinguishes us. Such complex technological adaptations require the causal understanding to invent and perfect new techniques and the ability to copy perceived behaviours. This has led to considerable research comparing the social learning abilities of chimpanzees and young children on tool-using tasks, yet experimental studies directly investigating tool modification are rare. The studies outlined in this thesis sought to assess the social learning abilities of chimpanzees and children by manipulating both the complexity of a tool modification method and the amount of information available in a demonstration. Video demonstrations of conspecifics were used in lieu of live models, in order to manipulate the quality and quantity of information directly. Both chimpanzees and children presented with complete information about the modification process learned to combine two tools together to make a more efficient tool significantly more than those provided with less information. Unlike chimpanzees, children presented with a more perceptually opaque method of tool modification (twisting and extending an internal rod) were also able to socially learn the task, despite the fact that none of the children in the control condition successfully solved the task. Both children and chimpanzees who solved the task after seeing a demonstration also persisted in using the socially learned method two-weeks later, even when it was no longer necessary. These results identify potent social learning effects in both chimpanzees and children, however, children proved superior to chimpanzees in observationally learning finer manipulative techniques. This thesis also provides the first analysis of video stimuli in ravens. To assess the feasibility of the methodology, ravens were first presented with different types of video stimuli, varying in terms of the subject identity. Ravens showed a preference for video footage of other ravens over different species of birds. In a second study, ravens who saw a conspecific solve a two-step task were more likely to attempt a solution than those who had not. This represents the first evidence of social learning from a video demonstration in ravens and further supports the use of this medium to dissect social learning mechanisms in a range of species.

Book The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba

Download or read book The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba written by Tetsuro Matsuzawa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-05-06 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The chimpanzees of Bossou in Guinea, West Africa, form a unique community which displays an exceptional array of tool use behaviors and behavioral adaptations to coexistence with humans. This community of Pan troglodytes verus has contributed more than three decades of data to the field of cultural primatology, especially chimpanzees’ flexible use of stones to crack open nuts and of perishable tools during foraging activities. The book highlights the special contribution of the long-term research at Bossou and more recent studies in surrounding areas, particularly in the Nimba Mountains and the forest of Diécké, to our understanding of wild chimpanzees’ tool use, cognitive development, lithic technology and culture. This compilation of research principally strives to uncover the complexity of the mind and behavioral flexibility of our closest living relatives. This work also reveals the necessity for ongoing efforts to conserve chimpanzees in the region. Chimpanzees have shed more light on our evolutionary origins than any other extant species in the world, yet their numbers in the wild are rapidly declining. In that sense, the Bossou chimpanzees and their neighbors clearly embody an invaluable cultural heritage for humanity as a whole. Readers can enjoy video clips illustrating unique behaviors of Bossou chimpanzees, in an exclusive DVD accompanying the hardcover or at a dedicated website described in the softcover.

Book The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition

Download or read book The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition written by Michael Tomasello and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ambitious and elegant, this book builds a bridge between evolutionary theory and cultural psychology. Michael Tomasello is one of the very few people to have done systematic research on the cognitive capacities of both nonhuman primates and human children. The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition identifies what the differences are, and suggests where they might have come from. Tomasello argues that the roots of the human capacity for symbol-based culture, and the kind of psychological development that takes place within it, are based in a cluster of uniquely human cognitive capacities that emerge early in human ontogeny. These include capacities for sharing attention with other persons; for understanding that others have intentions of their own; and for imitating, not just what someone else does, but what someone else has intended to do. In his discussions of language, symbolic representation, and cognitive development, Tomasello describes with authority and ingenuity the "ratchet effect" of these capacities working over evolutionary and historical time to create the kind of cultural artifacts and settings within which each new generation of children develops. He also proposes a novel hypothesis, based on processes of social cognition and cultural evolution, about what makes the cognitive representations of humans different from those of other primates. Lucid, erudite, and passionate, The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition will be essential reading for developmental psychology, animal behavior, and cultural psychology.

Book Wild Cultures

    Book Details:
  • Author : Christophe Boesch
  • Publisher : Cambridge University Press
  • Release : 2012-09-06
  • ISBN : 1139577026
  • Pages : 291 pages

Download or read book Wild Cultures written by Christophe Boesch and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-06 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do chimpanzees say, 'I want to have sex with you?' By clipping a leaf or knocking on a tree trunk? How do they eat live aggressive ants? By using a short stick with one hand or long stick with both? Ivorian and Tanzanian chimpanzees answer these questions differently, as would humans from France and China if asked how they eat rice. Christophe Boesch takes readers into the lives of chimpanzees from different African regions, highlighting the debate about culture. His ethnography reveals how simple techniques have evolved into complex ones, how teaching styles differ, how material culture widens access to new food sources and how youngsters learn culture. This journey reveals many parallels between humans and chimpanzees and points to striking differences. Written in a vivid and accessible style, Wild Cultures places the reader in social and ecological contexts that shed light on our twin cultures.

Book Social Learning from Video Demonstrations in Chimpanzees  Pan Troglodytes   Children  Homo Sapiens   and Ravens  Corvus Corax

Download or read book Social Learning from Video Demonstrations in Chimpanzees Pan Troglodytes Children Homo Sapiens and Ravens Corvus Corax written by Elizabeth E. Price and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Social Learning In Animals

Download or read book Social Learning In Animals written by Cecilia M. Heyes and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 1996-05-23 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The increasing realization among behaviorists and psychologists is that many animals learn by observation as members of social systems. Such settings contribute to the formation of culture. This book combines the knowledge of two groups of scientists with different backgrounds to establish a working consensus for future research. The book is divided into two major sections, with contributions by a well-known, international, and interdisciplinary team which integrates these growing areas of inquiry. - Integrates the broad range of scientific approaches being used in the studies of social learning and imitation, and society and culture - Provides an introduction to this field of study as well as a starting point for the more experienced researcher - Chapters are succinct reviews of innovative discoveries and progress made during the past decade - Includes statements of varied theoretical perspectives on controversial topics - Authoritative contributions by an international team of leading researchers

Book Social Learning

    Book Details:
  • Author : William Hoppitt
  • Publisher : Princeton University Press
  • Release : 2013-07-21
  • ISBN : 1400846501
  • Pages : 320 pages

Download or read book Social Learning written by William Hoppitt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-21 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. Social Learning provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Lala define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students. Provides a comprehensive, practical guide to social learning research Combines theoretical and empirical approaches Describes techniques for the laboratory and the field Covers social learning mechanisms and strategies, statistical modeling techniques for field data, mathematical modeling of cultural evolution, and more

Book Learning Strategies and Cultural Evolution during the Palaeolithic

Download or read book Learning Strategies and Cultural Evolution during the Palaeolithic written by Alex Mesoudi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is motivated by the desire to explain why Neanderthals were replaced by modern humans, in terms of cultural differences between the two (sub-) species. It provides up-to-date coverage on the theory of cultural evolution as is being used by anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists and psychologists to decipher hominin cultural change and diversity during the Palaeolithic. The contributing authors are directly involved in this effort and the material presented includes novel approaches and findings. Chapters explain how learning strategies in combination with social and demographic factors (e.g., population size and mobility patterns) predict cultural evolution in a world without the printing press, television or the Internet. Also addressed is the inverse problem of how learning strategies may be inferred from actual trajectories of cultural change, for example as seen in the North American Palaeolithic. Mathematics and statistics, a sometimes necessary part of theory, are explained in elementary terms where they appear, with details relegated to appendices. Full citations of the relevant literature will help the reader to further pursue any topic of interest.

Book The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Evolutionary Psychology

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Evolutionary Psychology written by Jennifer Vonk and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2012-02-13 with total page 591 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together leading experts in comparative and evolutionary psychology. Top scholars summarize the histories and possible futures of their disciplines, and the contribution of each to illuminating the evolutionary forces that give rise to unique abilities in distantly and closely related species.

Book Primate Origins of Human Cognition and Behavior

Download or read book Primate Origins of Human Cognition and Behavior written by Tetsuro Matsuzawa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biologists and anthropologists in Japan have played a crucial role in the development of primatology as a scientific discipline. Publication of Primate Origins of Human Cognition and Behavior under the editorship of Tetsuro Matsuzawa reaffirms the pervasive and creative role played by the intellectual descendants of Kinji Imanishi and Junichiro Itani in the fields of behavioral ecology, psychology, and cognitive science. Matsuzawa and his colleagues-humans and other primate partners- explore a broad range of issues including the phylogeny of perception and cognition; the origin of human speech; learning and memory; recognition of self, others, and species; society and social interaction; and culture. With data from field and laboratory studies of more than 90 primate species and of more than 50 years of long-term research, the intellectual breadth represented in this volume makes it a major contribution to comparative cognitive science and to current views on the origin of the mind and behavior of humans.

Book The Question of Animal Culture

Download or read book The Question of Animal Culture written by Kevin N. Laland and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-16 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fifty years ago, a troop of Japanese macaques was observed washing sandy sweet potatoes in a stream, sending ripples through the fields of ethology, comparative psychology, and cultural anthropology. The issue of animal culture has been hotly debated ever since. Now Kevin Laland and Bennett Galef have gathered key voices in the often rancorous debate to summarize the views along the continuum from “Culture? Of course!” to “Culture? Of course not!” The result is essential reading for anyone interested in the validity of animal culture, and what it might say about our own.

Book Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos

Download or read book Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos written by Christophe Boesch and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-08 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), otherwise known as pygmy chimpanzees, are the only two species of the genus Pan. As they are our nearest relatives, there has been much research devoted to investigating the similarities and differences between them. This book offers an extensive review of the most recent observations to come from field studies on the diversity of Pan social behaviour, with contributions from many of the world's leading experts in this field. A wide range of social behaviours is discussed including tool use, hunting, reproductive strategies and conflict management as well as demographic variables and ecological constraints. In addition to interspecies behavioural diversity, this text describes exciting new research into variations between different populations of the same species. Researchers and students working in the fields of primatology, anthropology and zoology will find this a fascinating read.