Rissa
Well-Known Member
Diving for Food: Analysis of a Possible Case of Social Learning in Wild Rat
Many members of some colonies of wild rats living along the banks of the Po
River dive for and feed on molluscs living on the river bottom, No members
of nearby colonies, having equal access to molluscs, exploit them as a food
source. It has been suggested that these field observations indicate that social
transmission processes are responsible for the spread of mollusc predation
within predaceous colonies. The results of the present laboratory analysis of
the development of diving behavior in wild and domesticated rats indicate
that differential exposure of various colonies to shaping procedures occurring
in nature and differences in resource distribution within colony home ranges
are probably more important than social transmission processes in producing
the intercolony variability in diving behavior observed in nature.
http://sociallearning.info/home/pdf/comp psych 94(3), 416-425.pdf
Many members of some colonies of wild rats living along the banks of the Po
River dive for and feed on molluscs living on the river bottom, No members
of nearby colonies, having equal access to molluscs, exploit them as a food
source. It has been suggested that these field observations indicate that social
transmission processes are responsible for the spread of mollusc predation
within predaceous colonies. The results of the present laboratory analysis of
the development of diving behavior in wild and domesticated rats indicate
that differential exposure of various colonies to shaping procedures occurring
in nature and differences in resource distribution within colony home ranges
are probably more important than social transmission processes in producing
the intercolony variability in diving behavior observed in nature.
http://sociallearning.info/home/pdf/comp psych 94(3), 416-425.pdf
