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Related Concept Videos

Skewness01:06

Skewness

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The measures of central tendency calculated from a data set may not reveal much about its intrinsic distribution. If a plot is made of the data set’s values, the mean and the median may not only differ, but also the plot may have more values on one side of the central tendencies. Such a data set is said to be skewed towards that side.
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If the frequency distribution of a data set is more inclined towards smaller or larger values, the distribution is said to be skewed. If data values are skewed to the right, then the distribution is called positively skewed. Conversely, if the plot is skewed to the left, the distribution is called negatively skewed.
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Reproductive cloning is the process of producing a genetically identical copy—a clone—of an entire organism. While clones can be produced by splitting an early embryo—similar to what happens naturally with identical twins—cloning of adult animals is usually done by a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
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Social traps are negative situations where people get caught in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant, with no easy way to back out of or avoid. The concept was orignally introduced by John Platt who applied psychology to Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons", where in New England herd owners could let their cattle graze in the common ground. This situation seems like a good idea, but an individual could have an advantage. If they owned...
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Ultrasonography in Experimental Reproductive Investigations on Rats
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Reproductive skew affects social information use.

Marco Smolla1,2, Charlotte Rosher2,3, R Tucker Gilman2

  • 1Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Royal Society Open Science
|August 17, 2019
PubMed
Summary

Reproductive skew influences social learning. Populations with less reproductive skew favor social learning, while high skew leads to individual learning, impacting cultural evolution.

Keywords:
agent-based modelcompetitioncultural evolutionreproductive skewsocial learning

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Behavioral ecology
  • Social learning theory

Background:

  • Individual variation in social learning is significant for cultural evolution.
  • The underlying causes of these individual differences in social learning remain largely unknown.
  • Reproductive skew, the unequal distribution of reproductive opportunities, is a potential factor influencing learning strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that differences in reproductive skew affect the value of social information.
  • To explore how reproductive skew and associated energetic requirements influence the evolution of social learning.
  • To examine potential sex differences in social learning strategies driven by differential reproductive skew.

Main Methods:

  • An agent-based model was employed to simulate learning strategies.
  • The model incorporated varying levels of reproductive skew and energetic requirements.
  • Simulations explored learning in sexually reproducing populations with differing skew between sexes.

Main Results:

  • Social learning evolves more readily in risk-averse, low-skew populations compared to high-skew populations.
  • Higher reproductive skew is associated with increased variance in yield, making social learning less advantageous.
  • When sexes experience different reproductive skews, they adopt divergent strategies: high-skew sex favors individual learning, low-skew sex favors social learning.

Conclusions:

  • Reproductive skew significantly impacts the propensity to use social learning, influencing individual and species-level variation.
  • Sex differences in risk aversion, potentially linked to reproductive skew, can drive distinct learning strategies.
  • These findings offer insights into the conditions shaping social learning and its role in cultural evolution.