Teaching in wild meerkats.

by: A Thornton, K McAuliffe

Science, Vol. 313, No. 5784. (14 July 2006), pp. 227-229.

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Abstract

Despite the obvious benefits of directed mechanisms that facilitate the efficient transfer of skills, there is little critical evidence for teaching in nonhuman animals. Using observational and experimental data, we show that wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) teach pups prey-handling skills by providing them with opportunities to interact with live prey. In response to changing pup begging calls, helpers alter their prey-provisioning methods as pups grow older, thus accelerating learning without the use of complex cognition. The lack of evidence for teaching in species other than humans may reflect problems in producing unequivocal support for the occurrence of teaching, rather than the absence of teaching.

@article{citeulike:1203361, abstract = {Despite the obvious benefits of directed mechanisms that facilitate the efficient transfer of skills, there is little critical evidence for teaching in nonhuman animals. Using observational and experimental data, we show that wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) teach pups prey-handling skills by providing them with opportunities to interact with live prey. In response to changing pup begging calls, helpers alter their prey-provisioning methods as pups grow older, thus accelerating learning without the use of complex cognition. The lack of evidence for teaching in species other than humans may reflect problems in producing unequivocal support for the occurrence of teaching, rather than the absence of teaching.}, address = {Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. jant2@cam.ac.uk}, author = {Thornton, A. and McAuliffe, K. }, citeulike-article-id = {1203361}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1128727}, issn = {1095-9203}, journal = {Science}, keywords = {behavior, instructed\_learning, observational\_learning, teaching}, month = {July}, number = {5784}, pages = {227--229}, posted-at = {2007-04-02 21:46:27}, priority = {5}, title = {Teaching in wild meerkats.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1128727}, volume = {313}, year = {2006} }

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TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1203361 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1203361 TI - Teaching in wild meerkats. JF - Science VL - 313 IS - 5784 SP - 227 EP - 229 AD - Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. jant2@cam.ac.uk SN - 1095-9203 N2 - Despite the obvious benefits of directed mechanisms that facilitate the efficient transfer of skills, there is little critical evidence for teaching in nonhuman animals. Using observational and experimental data, we show that wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) teach pups prey-handling skills by providing them with opportunities to interact with live prey. In response to changing pup begging calls, helpers alter their prey-provisioning methods as pups grow older, thus accelerating learning without the use of complex cognition. The lack of evidence for teaching in species other than humans may reflect problems in producing unequivocal support for the occurrence of teaching, rather than the absence of teaching. KW - behavior KW - instructed_learning KW - observational_learning KW - teaching AU - Thornton, A AU - McAuliffe, K PY - 2006/07/14/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1128727 ER -

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