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Understanding the multiple factors governing social learning and the diffusion of innovations

Lucy M. Aplin · 2016 · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

Summary. This paper examines how animals learn from social interactions and how innovations spread through populations via social learning. The author reviews evidence from wild animals and identifies key conditions enabling social learning: sensitive developmental periods, difficulty obtaining personal information, and situations where social information outperforms individual learning. The research demonstrates that social learning mechanisms allow animal populations to adapt behaviorally to environmental changes through innovation diffusion.

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Aplin, L. M.. (2016). Understanding the multiple factors governing social learning and the diffusion of innovations. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.09.003

Details

DOI
10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.09.003
Countries
United Kingdom
Regions
Europe
Categories
innovation-theory, general-innovation
Added
2026-04-28