In two experiments, observer rats saw a pretrained demonstrator rat of either the same or a different strain engaging in a discrimination task in which the presentation of a discriminative stimulus indicated whether performing a particular response (pulling a chain) would be reinforced. In both experiments an effect of demonstrator familiarity was found: Observers of a demonstrator from a different strain behaved in a manner that was consistent with the demonstrator whereas observers of a demonstrator from the same strain did not. These results suggest that an effect akin to latent inhibition operates in the social domain: Familiarity with the demonstrator retards the readiness with which observational learning proceeds.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CampbellF. M.HeyesC. M. (2002). Rats smell: Odour-mediated local enhancement, in a vertical movement two-action test.Animal Behaviour63, 1055–1063.
2.
GrindleyG. C. (1932). The formation of a simple habit in guinea pigs.British Journal of Psychology23, 127–147.
3.
HeyesC. M. (2001). Causes and consequences of imitation.Trends in Cognitive Sciences5, 253–261.
4.
HeyesC. M.DawsonG. R. (1990). A demonstration of observational learning using a bidirectional control.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology42B, 59–71.
5.
HeyesC. M.DawsonG. R.NokesT. (1992). Imitation in rats: Initial responding and transfer evidence.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology45B, 81–92.
6.
HeyesC. M.JaldowE.DawsonG. R. (1994). Imitation in rats: Conditions of occurrence in a bidirectional control procedure.Learning and Motivation25, 276–287.
7.
HeyesC. M.RayE. D. (2000). What is the significance of imitation in animals? Advances in the Study of Behaviour.29, 215–245.
8.
HoneyR. C.GoodM.ManserK. L. (1998a). Negative priming in associative learning: Evidence from a serial-habituation procedure.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes24, 229–237.
9.
HoneyR. C.WattA.GoodM. (1998b). Hippocampal lesions disrupt an associative mismatch process.Journal of Neuroscience18, 2226–2230.
10.
LalandK. N.BatesonP. (2001). The mechanisms of imitation.Cybernetics and Systems: An International Journal32, 195–224.
11.
LubowR. E.MooreA. U. (1959). Latent inhibition: The effect of nonreinforced exposure to the conditioned stimulus.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology52, 415–419.
12.
MillerN. E.DollardJ. (1941). Social learning and imitationNew Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
13.
MitchellC. J.HeyesC. M.GardnerM. R.DawsonG. R. (1999). Limitations of a bidirectional control procedure for the investigation of imitation in rats: Odour cues on the manipulandum.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology52B, 193–202.
14.
RayE. D.GardnerM. R.HeyesC. M. (2000). Seeing how it's done: Matching conditions for observer rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the bidirectional control.Animal Cognition3, 147–157.
15.
RayE. D.HeyesC. M. (2002). Do rats in a two-action test encode movement egocentrically or allocentrically?.Animal Cognition5, 245–252.
16.
ReedP.SkieraF.AdamsL.HeyesC. M. (1996). Effects of isolation rearing and mirror exposure on social and asocial discrimination performance.Learning and Motivation27, 113–129.
17.
RomanesG. J. (1884). Mental evolution in animalsNew York: AMS Press.
18.
SaggersonA. L.GeorgeD. N.HoneyR. C. (2005). Imitative learning of stimulus–response and response–outcome associations in pigeons.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes31, 289–300.
19.
SpenceK. W. (1937). Experimental studies of learning and higher mental processes in infra-human primates.Psychological Bulletin34, 806–850.
20.
ThorndikeE. L. (1911). Animal intelligence: Experimental studiesNew York: Macmillan.
21.
ThorpeW. H. (1956). The evidence for insight learning and insight.Learning and instinct in animals.ThorpeW. H.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press121–137.
22.
ThorpeW. H. (1963). Learning and instinct in animals. ((2nd ed.)). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
