Recognizing a swan: Socially-biased learning

Socially-biased learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and important in behavioral biology and in evolution. However, common misconceptions abou t socially-biased learning stand in the way of its effective study by psych ologists. Our aim in this paper is to recruit psychologists' interest in so cially-biased learning by (1) defining this domain, and distinguishing it f rom imitation, (2) explaining the significance of socially-biased learning in behavioral evolution, (3) recommending comparative methods to analyze so cially-biased learning in natural settings. Linked examination of the varyi ng social contexts of practice and the forms and rate of change in individu al practice can indicate the extent to which social context accounts for di fferences in learning. We close with a model of how social bias might modul ate learning, and suggest ways of testing this model.