| An extensive theory in human evolutionary ecology examines biased social learning, which simply means learning from other humans in some way that affects behavior and is not completely random. The present work integrates this theory with data from economic experiments. Chapter 1, using classic theory from population genetics, reviews the critical need to distinguish between the random and non-random transmission of information, as well as the need to characterize the different forms of non-random transmission that may exist. Chapter 2 discusses several key problems central to integrating theory and empiricism in the social sciences and presents potential solutions especially relevant to the study of social learning. Chapter 3 summarizes results from an experimental study in a small-scale society in Bolivia. This study does not provide evidence for biased social learning and indeed suggests the participants relied almost exclusively on individual learning. Chapters 4 and 5 present results from experimental studies conducted among Swiss undergraduates. These two studies provide strong evidence for two widely discussed forms of non-random social learning: imitating success and following the majority. Both of these studies, however, uncover important sources of heterogeneity that cause the structure of social learning at the aggregate level to depart in subtle ways from the assumptions of classic theoretical work. |
