Childhood in social learning models with changing environments: Implications for human evolution

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Cognitive science
• Anthropology

Background:

• Childhood represents a significant resource cost and period of vulnerability.
• Social learning through observation competes with individual innovation for knowledge acquisition.
• The duration of childhood influences cognitive development and its impact on fitness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To model the trade-offs between social learning and innovation across generations in varying environments.
• To investigate how childhood duration and environmental stability affect resource acquisition and fitness.
• To explore the implications for hominid evolution and the Out of Africa migration.

Main Methods:

• Agent-based modeling simulating resource acquisition scenarios.
• Multi-generational simulations across diverse environmental conditions.
• Analysis of fitness advantages conferred by social learning versus self-exploration.

Main Results:

• Social learning generally leads to more efficient knowledge gain and greater resource acquisition than innovation.
• A substantial childhood burden enhances lifetime resource acquisition through social learning in stable environments.
• The benefits of social learning decrease with environmental unpredictability and reverse in rapidly changing environments.

Conclusions:

• Stable environments may have facilitated hominid evolution by supporting longer childhoods and advanced cognitive abilities through social learning.
• Hominid populations were likely vulnerable to environmental instability, impacting their spread and survival.
• Findings align with the serial founder model of Homo sapiens migration out of Africa, highlighting the role of social learning.