Research reportSocially acquired predator avoidance: Is it just classical conditioning?
Section snippets
Classical conditioning: general process theory and adaptive specialization
In classical conditioning, also termed Pavlovian conditioning, animals acquire a response to a previously neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus: CS; e.g. simple tone), if that stimulus predicts a biologically important event (unconditioned stimulus: US; e.g. food) [59]. The mechanism underpinning learning is considered to be the formation of an association between CS and US [60]. Over 100 years of behavioural research has lead to a good understanding of the parameters that affect the
Social learning
Social learning refers to instances of learning in which the behaviour of a ‘demonstrator’, or its by-products (e.g. scent marks), modify the subsequent behaviour of an ‘observer’. Several varieties of social learning have been identified according to the role of the demonstrator [19], [34]. For example, social companions may alter the probability of an observer interacting with a given stimulus (e.g. a stick), a phenomenon referred to as local enhancement [73]. Alternatively, they may alter
Socially acquired predator avoidance
Socially acquired predator avoidance is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon. It has been found in fish, birds and both eutherian and marsupial mammals. The pattern of acquisition is similar across groups. Although animals show initially little or no avoidance of a novel predator stimulus, once it has been presented together with the alarm signals of social companions, it evokes a fear response [24].
Efforts to understand whether socially acquired predator avoidance engages classical
General discussion
Socially acquired predator avoidance is a learning paradigm in which animals acquire an avoidance response towards a novel predator stimulus that initially evokes a low or no response, after it has been experienced together with a social alarm signal. The work reviewed above aimed to explore the long held view that such learning engages a classical conditioning mechanism in which the predator stimulus acts as a CS and the social alarm signal as a US [34], [52], [69]. Specifically, I aimed to
General conclusions
I argue that socially acquired predator avoidance presents an exciting and novel opportunity to explore mechanisms of learning and memory. By considering the function such learning plays in nature, one can formulate testable hypotheses regarding the way in which properties of acquisition may be evolutionarily tailored to solve this particular ecological problem, an approach I have illustrated above. Socially acquired predator avoidance learning is also a one-trial learning phenomenon, a feature
Conflict of interest
The material contained in the manuscript does not raise any conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
A.S. Griffin was supported by a Swiss National Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship during work on Carib grackles. The research was supported by an NSERC grant to Louis Lefebvre. Indian mynah research is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Postdoctoral Fellowship to A.S. Griffin. The author wishes to thank the staff of Bellairs Research Station of McGill University, as well as staff of the Central Animal Facility of the University of Newcastle. The author also thanks S. Marlin for
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