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Social transmission of maladaptive information in the guppy

Social transmission of maladaptive information in the guppy Many animals are capable of learning from others, a process referred to as social learning. There is little doubt that a capacity for social learning is an adaptation and that it typically results in adaptive behavior. What is less clear is whether there are circumstances under which social learning can result in the transmission of outdated, inappropriate, or maladaptive information. Here we report an experimental study that investigated the social learning and transmission of maladaptive foraging information through small social groups of guppies, Poecilia reticulata . This experiment used a transmission chain design in which fish in small founder groups were trained to take either an energetically costly circuitous route to a feeder or a less costly short route, with trained founder members gradually replaced by untrained conspecifics. Three days after all the founders had been removed, the behavioral traditions of groups of untrained fish were still strongly influenced by their founder's behavior. Moreover, the rate at which untrained subjects that shoaled with founder conspecifics trained to take the long route learned to take the short route was significantly slower than for fish foraging alone. The results provide unequivocal evidence that maladaptive information can be socially transmitted through animal populations and imply that socially learned information can inhibit learning of the optimal behavior pattern. Key words guppies information transmission maladaption Poecilia reticulata social learning tradition © 1998 International Society for Behavioral Ecology « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article Behavioral Ecology (1998) 9 (5): 493-499. doi: 10.1093/beheco/9.5.493 » Abstract Free Full Text (PDF) Free Classifications Article Services Article metrics Alert me when cited Alert me if corrected Find similar articles Similar articles in Web of Science Add to my archive Download citation Request Permissions Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via CrossRef Citing articles via Scopus Citing articles via Web of Science Citing articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Laland, K. N. Articles by Williams, K. Search for related content Related Content Load related web page information Share Email this article CiteULike Delicious Facebook Google+ Mendeley Twitter What's this? Search this journal: Advanced » Current Issue September-October 2015 26 (5) Alert me to new issues The Journal About this journal Rights & Permissions Dispatch date of the next issue This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) We are mobile – find out more Journals Career Network Published on behalf of The International Society for Behavioral Ecology Impact factor: 3.177 5-Yr impact factor: 3.350 Editor-in-Chief Leigh Simmons View full editorial board For Authors Instructions to authors Online submission Author self-archiving policy Submit a manuscript Open access options for authors - visit Oxford Open This journal enables compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy This journal is compliant with the Research Councils UK Policy on Access to Research Outputs Alerting Services Email table of contents Email Advance Access CiteTrack XML RSS feed Corporate Services Advertising sales Reprints Supplements Widget Get a widget var taxonomies = ("SCI01080", "SCI01130", "SCI01320"); Most Most Read The biparental care hypothesis for the evolution of monogamy: experimental evidence in an amphibian Attractiveness of women's body odors over the menstrual cycle: the role of oral contraceptives and receiver sex The unequal variance t-test is an underused alternative to Student's t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test Predator preference for brightly colored males in the guppy: a viability cost for a sexually selected trait Preference for human male body hair changes across the menstrual cycle and menopause » View all Most Read articles Most Cited Fitness consequences of personality: a meta-analysis A farewell to Bonferroni: the problems of low statistical power and publication bias Ecological immunology: life history trade-offs and immune defense in birds Reproductive sharing in animal societies: reproductive incentives or incomplete control by dominant breeders? A theory of mate choice based on heterozygosity » View all Most Cited articles Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department. Online ISSN 1465-7279 - Print ISSN 1045-2249 Copyright © 2015 International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford Journals Oxford University Press Site Map Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Legal Notices Frequently Asked Questions Other Oxford University Press sites: Oxford University Press Oxford Journals China Oxford Journals Japan Academic & Professional books Children's & Schools Books Dictionaries & Reference Dictionary of National Biography Digital Reference English Language Teaching Higher Education Textbooks International Education Unit Law Medicine Music Online Products & Publishing Oxford Bibliographies Online Oxford Dictionaries Online Oxford English Dictionary Oxford Language Dictionaries Online Oxford Scholarship Online Reference Rights and Permissions Resources for Retailers & Wholesalers Resources for the Healthcare Industry Very Short Introductions World's Classics function fnc_onDomLoaded() { var query_context = getQueryContext(); PF_initOIUnderbar(query_context,":QS:default","","JRN"); PF_insertOIUnderbar(0); }; if (window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', fnc_onDomLoaded, false); } else if (window.attachEvent) { window.attachEvent('onload', fnc_onDomLoaded); } var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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Social transmission of maladaptive information in the guppy

Behavioral Ecology , Volume 9 (5) – Jan 1, 1998

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References (38)

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 International Society for Behavioral Ecology
ISSN
1045-2249
eISSN
1465-7279
DOI
10.1093/beheco/9.5.493
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Many animals are capable of learning from others, a process referred to as social learning. There is little doubt that a capacity for social learning is an adaptation and that it typically results in adaptive behavior. What is less clear is whether there are circumstances under which social learning can result in the transmission of outdated, inappropriate, or maladaptive information. Here we report an experimental study that investigated the social learning and transmission of maladaptive foraging information through small social groups of guppies, Poecilia reticulata . This experiment used a transmission chain design in which fish in small founder groups were trained to take either an energetically costly circuitous route to a feeder or a less costly short route, with trained founder members gradually replaced by untrained conspecifics. Three days after all the founders had been removed, the behavioral traditions of groups of untrained fish were still strongly influenced by their founder's behavior. Moreover, the rate at which untrained subjects that shoaled with founder conspecifics trained to take the long route learned to take the short route was significantly slower than for fish foraging alone. The results provide unequivocal evidence that maladaptive information can be socially transmitted through animal populations and imply that socially learned information can inhibit learning of the optimal behavior pattern. Key words guppies information transmission maladaption Poecilia reticulata social learning tradition © 1998 International Society for Behavioral Ecology « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article Behavioral Ecology (1998) 9 (5): 493-499. doi: 10.1093/beheco/9.5.493 » Abstract Free Full Text (PDF) Free Classifications Article Services Article metrics Alert me when cited Alert me if corrected Find similar articles Similar articles in Web of Science Add to my archive Download citation Request Permissions Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via CrossRef Citing articles via Scopus Citing articles via Web of Science Citing articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Laland, K. N. Articles by Williams, K. Search for related content Related Content Load related web page information Share Email this article CiteULike Delicious Facebook Google+ Mendeley Twitter What's this? Search this journal: Advanced » Current Issue September-October 2015 26 (5) Alert me to new issues The Journal About this journal Rights & Permissions Dispatch date of the next issue This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) We are mobile – find out more Journals Career Network Published on behalf of The International Society for Behavioral Ecology Impact factor: 3.177 5-Yr impact factor: 3.350 Editor-in-Chief Leigh Simmons View full editorial board For Authors Instructions to authors Online submission Author self-archiving policy Submit a manuscript Open access options for authors - visit Oxford Open This journal enables compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy This journal is compliant with the Research Councils UK Policy on Access to Research Outputs Alerting Services Email table of contents Email Advance Access CiteTrack XML RSS feed Corporate Services Advertising sales Reprints Supplements Widget Get a widget var taxonomies = ("SCI01080", "SCI01130", "SCI01320"); Most Most Read The biparental care hypothesis for the evolution of monogamy: experimental evidence in an amphibian Attractiveness of women's body odors over the menstrual cycle: the role of oral contraceptives and receiver sex The unequal variance t-test is an underused alternative to Student's t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test Predator preference for brightly colored males in the guppy: a viability cost for a sexually selected trait Preference for human male body hair changes across the menstrual cycle and menopause » View all Most Read articles Most Cited Fitness consequences of personality: a meta-analysis A farewell to Bonferroni: the problems of low statistical power and publication bias Ecological immunology: life history trade-offs and immune defense in birds Reproductive sharing in animal societies: reproductive incentives or incomplete control by dominant breeders? A theory of mate choice based on heterozygosity » View all Most Cited articles Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department. Online ISSN 1465-7279 - Print ISSN 1045-2249 Copyright © 2015 International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford Journals Oxford University Press Site Map Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Legal Notices Frequently Asked Questions Other Oxford University Press sites: Oxford University Press Oxford Journals China Oxford Journals Japan Academic & Professional books Children's & Schools Books Dictionaries & Reference Dictionary of National Biography Digital Reference English Language Teaching Higher Education Textbooks International Education Unit Law Medicine Music Online Products & Publishing Oxford Bibliographies Online Oxford Dictionaries Online Oxford English Dictionary Oxford Language Dictionaries Online Oxford Scholarship Online Reference Rights and Permissions Resources for Retailers & Wholesalers Resources for the Healthcare Industry Very Short Introductions World's Classics function fnc_onDomLoaded() { var query_context = getQueryContext(); PF_initOIUnderbar(query_context,":QS:default","","JRN"); PF_insertOIUnderbar(0); }; if (window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', fnc_onDomLoaded, false); } else if (window.attachEvent) { window.attachEvent('onload', fnc_onDomLoaded); } var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-189672-16"); pageTracker._setDomainName(".oxfordjournals.org"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

Journal

Behavioral EcologyOxford University Press

Published: Jan 1, 1998

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