Teachers in the wild.
Three recent studies challenge the apparent consensus about the absence of teaching in non-human animals by providing evidence that certain behaviours of ants, birds and mammals satisfy a strict definition of teaching. However, these behaviours, although capable of facilitating information or skill acquisition in youngsters, could not support the transmission of cultural knowledge across individuals, which human teaching arguably serves.
Csibra
Gergely
G
School of Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK. g.csibra@bbk.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003469:Culture; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D008988:Herpestidae; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008322:Mammals; D012951:Socialization; D020308:Songbirds; D013045:Species Specificity; D013663:Teaching