The evolution of social learning as phenotypic cue integration.

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Cultural evolution
• Behavioral ecology

Background:

• Existing research on cultural evolution often overemphasizes social learning over individual learning.
• Other developmental inputs influencing phenotypic adaptation to selective environments are frequently overlooked.
• The interplay between social learning and diverse developmental cues requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To model the simultaneous evolution of multiple social learning strategies alongside other phenotypic determination inputs.
• To investigate how various developmental cues affect the prevalence and efficacy of social learning.
• To understand the conditions under which different social learning biases (prestige vs. conformity) and other cues (epigenetics, individual learning, maternal effects, bet-hedging, genetic cues) dominate.

Main Methods:

• Developed a theoretical model incorporating multiple forms of social learning (vertical/horizontal, prestige/conformity biases).
• Included other evolving inputs: heritable epigenetic factors, individual learning, maternal effects, bet-hedging, and genetic cues.
• Analyzed model outcomes in autocorrelated (predictable) and unpredictable environments.

Main Results:

• Horizontal social learning explains the majority of phenotypic variation in autocorrelated environments.
• Prestige biases are favored in positively autocorrelated environments; conformity biases in negatively autocorrelated environments.
• Other cues like bet-hedging or vertical prestige biases become important only in unpredictable environments or when horizontal social learning has low information content.

Conclusions:

• Horizontal social learning is a dominant driver of phenotypic variation in predictable, fluctuating environments.
• Environmental autocorrelation dictates the prevalence of prestige versus conformity biases in social learning.
• The relative importance of different developmental cues shifts based on environmental predictability and the information content of social learning.