title: Social learning: the importance of copying others.
abstract: A new study argues that social learning is adaptive because 'demonstrators' inadvertently filter information, so that copiers learn behaviours that have proved successful. There are remarkable parallels between these findings and data on how social insects share information about food locations.
authors: Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 9SB, UK.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Grüter
authors: Ellouise
authors: E
authors: Leadbeater
authors: Francis L W
authors: FL
authors: Ratnieks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007858:Learning; D019370:Observation; D012919:Social Behavior; D012984:Software