Invertebrate Learning and Memory: Chapter 40. Learning and Decision Making in a Social Context

by Nigel R. Franks

We consider issues of social learning in insect societies. Specifically, we review two controversial (1) teaching during tandem running in the rock ant Temnothorax albipennis and (2) colony-level learning during repeated emigrations in the same species. We have selected these examples for several reasons. First, we wish to highlight the value of using insects as model systems for studying social learning in general. Second, these cases serve as an antidote to the notion that social learning requires theories of mind. Third, social insects provide ideal experimental systems for the rigorous examination of the causes and consequences of social learning. We believe our findings and conclusions are important to those interested in social learning in humans, other vertebrates, and invertebrates because they may suggest that in these systems too social learning can occur in the absence of theories of mind.

54 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 18, 2013