Competition for resources can explain patterns of social and individual learning in nature

Tobias Galla,Susanne Shultz,Marco Smolla,R Tucker Gilman

doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.1405

Tobias Galla, Susanne Shultz + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1405

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Abstract

In nature, animals often ignore socially available information despite the multiple theoretical benefits of social learning over individual trial-and-error learning. Using information filtered by others is quicker, more efficient and less risky than randomly sampling the environment. To explain the mix of social and individual learning used by animals in nature, most models penalize the quality of socially derived information as either out of date, of poor fidelity or costly to acquire. Competition for limited resources, a fundamental evolutionary force, provides a compelling, yet hitherto overlooked, explanation for the evolution of mixed-learning strategies. We present a novel model of social learning that incorporates competition and demonstrates that (i) social learning is favoured when competition is weak, but (ii) if competition is strong social learning is favoured only when resource quality is highly variable and there is low environmental turnover. The frequency of social learning in our model always evolves until it reduces the mean foraging success of the population. The results of our model are consistent with empirical studies showing that individuals rely less on social information where resources vary little in quality and where there is high within-patch competition. Our model provides a framework for understanding the evolution of social learning, a prerequisite for human cumulative culture.

Highlights

Animals rely on current information about their environment, which they gain by directly interacting with their environment or by observing others
A recent tournament model demonstrated a consistent competitive advantage for individuals relying primarily on social learning [2]. Together these arguments suggest that social learning should be ubiquitous in nature, but observational and experimental evidence for example from goats [8], honeybees [9] and guppies [10] suggests that animals often opt for individual learning even when social information is available
To study how competition affects the success of individual and social learning, we developed an agent-based model, where individuals forage for resources divided among 2 patches

Summary

Introduction

Animals rely on current information about their environment, which they gain by directly interacting with their environment (individual learning) or by observing others (social learning). To study how competition affects the success of individual and social learning, we developed an agent-based model, where individuals forage for resources divided among 2 patches. In contrast to earlier social learning models, resources are limited and individuals foraging at the same patch compete to collect them. We use this model to ask the following questions: (i) does competition reduce the effectiveness of social learning relative to individual learning, (ii) does environmental stability or variation in resource quality affect the relative effectiveness of social learning and individual learning, and (iii) how is the mean individual foraging success affected by different proportions of social learning in a group?

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