Perspectives on Observational Learning in Animals
Observational learning is presumed to have occurred when an organism copies an improbable action or action outcome that it has observed and the matching behavior cannot be explained by an alternative mechanism. Psychologists have been particularly interested in the form of observational learning known as imitation and in how to distinguish imitation from other processes. […]
Milk bottles revisited: social learning and individual variation in the blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus
Blue tits are famous for the ‘milk bottle’ innovation, which emerged at numerous sites across Britain in the early 20th century. However, overall we still know little about the factors that foster or hinder the spread of innovations, or of the impact of individual differences in behaviour on social transmission. We used a two-action and […]
Conspecific observational learning by adult dogs in a training context
The role of observational learning in dogs has drawn great interest from the scientific community. However, only a few studies explored its potential use for training purposes. The aim of the present study was to assess the potential benefit of conspecific observational learning in a dog training context. Fifty adult Labrador retrievers were recruited at […]