Chapter 4 Strategies for Social Learning Testing Predictions from Formal Theory

Individual learning provides accurate information about the state of the environment, but is costly to acquire. Social learning, although potentially less reliable than individual learning, is also cheaper. This tradeoff between accuracy and cost has been used to construct formal models that predict when animals should increase reliance on social learning and from whom they should learn.We used Norway rats' social learning about foods as an empirical system to test predictions from formal theory concerning (a) the conditions under which animals should increase reliance on social learning (“when strategies”) and (b) from whom they should learn (“who strategies”). We found empirical support for four of five predictions from “when strategies,” but marginal support for only one of seven predictions from “who strategies.” We discuss possible reasons why “when strategies” were more successful than “who strategies” in predicting rats' reliance on social learning when selecting foods.