Emulation (observational learning)

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In emulation learning, subjects learn about parts of their environment and use this to achieve their own goals and is an observational learning mechanism (sometimes called social learning mechanisms). [1]

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In this context, emulation was first coined by child psychologist David Wood in 1988. [2] In 1990 [3] "emulation" was taken up by Michael Tomasello to explain the findings of an earlier study on ape social learning. [4] The meaning of the term emulation has changed gradually over time.

Emulation is different from imitation - because emulation focuses on the action's environmental results instead of a model's action themselves. The fidelity of an observational learning mechanism is expected to have profound implications for its capacity for cultural transmission. Emulation is argued by some to produce only fleeting fidelity - though this is still being discussed.

History of the term

In the original version, emulation referred to observers understanding objects in their potential to help them achieve desired results. They gained this understanding (or were triggered in their understanding) by seeing demonstrators achieving these very results with these objects. The actions performed by the demonstrators however were not copied, so it was concluded that observers learn "from the demonstration, that the tool may be used to obtain the food" (Tomasello et al., 1987).

In 1996, [5] Tomasello redefined the term: "The individual observing and learning some affordances of the behavior of another animal, and then using what it has learned in devising its own behavioral strategies, is what I have called emulation learning. ... an individual is not just attracted to the location of another but actually learns something about the environment as a result of its behavior". An even later definition further clarifies: "In emulation learning, learners see the movement of the objects involved and then come to some insight about its relevance to their own problems". [6] Here animals are described as learning some physics or causal relations of the environment. This does not necessarily involve a very complex understanding of abstract phenomena (as to what defines a "tool as a tool"). Emulation comprises a large span of cognitive complexity, from minimal cognitive complexity to complex levels. [7] Emulation was originally invented as a "cognitivist's alternative" to associative learning (Tomasello, 1999), spanning learning about how things function and their "affordances" [8] put to the use of achieving one's own goals: "Emulation learning in tool-use tasks seems to require the perception and understanding of some causal relations among objects". [9] This necessarily involves some "insight" – a cognitive domain. To further highlight this point Call & Carpenter wrote in 2001: [10] "it would be a harder task to teach robots to emulate than it is already to teach them to imitate".

Current theory

Huang & Chaman (2005 [11] ) have summarized the different connotations of emulation that are being discussed. These versions are: "end state emulation", "goal emulation", "object movement reenactment", and "emulation via affordance learning". In their words: in end state emulation "the presence of an end result motivates an observer to replicate the result without explicitly encoding it in relation to the model's goal". In goal emulation, "an observer attributes a goal to the model while attempting to devise his or her own strategy to reproduce the end result". In object movement reenactment "when an observer sees an object or its parts move, and that movement leads to a salient outcome, seeing the object movement might motivate the observer to reproduce the outcome". Emulation via affordance learning "refers to a process whereby an observer detects stimulus consequences, such as dynamic properties and temporal–spatial causal relations of objects, through watching the object movements". Byrne (2002 [12] ) has come up with a slightly different classification, and which is looking more closely at the learning on the object level. He distinguishes three forms: 1) learning physical properties of objects 2) learning the relationships among objects 3) understanding cause-and-effect relationships and changes of state of objects (e.g. "that a stick can be used as a rake").

Experimental approaches

Emulation has been researched in a diverse range of species, including humans. The methodology most often applied is the so-called ghost-condition – put forward by Cecilia Heyes and colleagues in 1994. [13] Ghost condition demonstrations do not involve any information on body movements. Instead, the parts of the apparatus move as if a ghost moves them (for this purpose often very thin fishing line is attached to the moving parts and which transmits the necessary forces). While the use of this method (and subsequently the interpretation of findings) has been criticized on the basis of it lacking ecological validity (it is a strange thing for non-animate objects to move on their own accord [14] ), it succeeded in showing that environmental information can be enough for observational learning to occur (work on pigeons [15] ). Thus, the general validity of the ghost condition is now established. Chimpanzees tested with this methodology have sometimes failed to copy, [16] [17] but copied in another study [18] – as did dogs. [19] Recently [20] it was shown that in human children, emulation learning enables children to copy in a constructive task solutions that they themselves were unable to produce on their own, an important stepping stone for cumulative culture. This study therefore showed, empirically, that imitation is not a necessary requirement for cumulative culture (contra to some previous claims).

See also

Related Research Articles

Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a social model such as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher with surroundings. Particularly in childhood, a model is someone of authority or higher status in an environment. In animals, observational learning is often based on classical conditioning, in which an instinctive behavior is elicited by observing the behavior of another, but other processes may be involved as well.

Social learning theory is a theory of learning process and social behavior which proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. In addition to the observation of behavior, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement. When a particular behavior is rewarded regularly, it will most likely persist; conversely, if a particular behavior is constantly punished, it will most likely desist. The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in which behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the important roles of various internal processes in the learning individual.

Animal languages are forms of non-human animal communication that show similarities to human language. Animals communicate by using a variety of signs such as sounds or movements. Such signing may be considered complex enough to be called a form of language if the inventory of signs is large, the signs are relatively arbitrary, and the animals seem to produce them with a degree of volition. In experimental tests, animal communication may also be evidenced through the use of lexigrams. While the term "animal language" is widely used, researchers agree that animal languages are not as complex or expressive as human language.

Imitation Behaviour in which an individual observes and replicates anothers behaviour

Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of social learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. It allows for the transfer of information between individuals and down generations without the need for genetic inheritance." The word imitation can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to politics. The term generally refers to conscious behavior; subconscious imitation is termed mirroring.

Research into great ape language has involved teaching chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans to communicate with humans and with each other using sign language, physical tokens, lexigrams (Yerkish), and mimicking human speech. Some primatologists argue that these primates' use of the communication tools indicates their ability to use "language", although this is not consistent with some definitions of that term.

Michael Tomasello is an American developmental and comparative psychologist, as well as a linguist. He is professor of psychology at Duke University.

David Premack was Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, United States. He was educated at the University of Minnesota when logical positivism was in full bloom. The departments of Psychology and Philosophy were closely allied. Herbert Feigl, Wilfred Sellars, and Paul Meehl led the philosophy seminars, while Group Dynamics was led by Leon Festinger and Stanley Schachter.

Evolutionary developmental psychology (EDP) is a research paradigm that applies the basic principles of evolution by natural selection, to understand the development of human behavior and cognition. It involves the study of both the genetic and environmental mechanisms that underlie the development of social and cognitive competencies, as well as the epigenetic processes that adapt these competencies to local conditions.

Animal culture involves the current theory of cultural learning in non-human animals, through socially transmitted behaviors. The question as to the existence of culture in non-human societies has been a contentious subject for decades, largely due to the lack of a concise definition for the word "culture". However, many leading scientists agree on seeing culture as a process, rather than an end product. This process, most agree, involves the social transmittance of novel behaviour, both among peers and between generations. Such behaviour can be shared by a group of animals, but not necessarily between separate groups of the same species.

Joint attention When two people focus on something at once

Joint attention or shared attention is the shared focus of two individuals on an object. It is achieved when one individual alerts another to an object by means of eye-gazing, pointing or other verbal or non-verbal indications. An individual gazes at another individual, points to an object and then returns their gaze to the individual. Scaife and Bruner were the first researchers to present a cross-sectional description of children's ability to follow eye gaze in 1975. They found that most eight- to ten-month-old children followed a line of regard, and that all 11- to 14-month-old children did so. This early research showed it was possible for an adult to bring certain objects in the environment to an infant's attention using eye gaze.

Primate cognition is the study of the intellectual and behavioral skills of non-human primates, particularly in the fields of psychology, behavioral biology, primatology, and anthropology.

Josep Call

Josep Call is a Spanish comparative psychologist specializing in primate cognition.

Culture and social cognition is the relationship between human culture and human cognitive capabilities. Cultural cognitive evolution proposes that humans’ unique cognitive capacities are not solely due to biological inheritance, but are in fact due in large part to cultural transmission and evolution. Modern humans and great apes are separated evolutionarily by about six million years. Proponents of cultural evolution argue that this would not have been enough time for humans to develop the advanced cognitive capabilities required to create tools, language, and build societies through biological evolution. Biological evolution could not have individually produced each of these cognitive capabilities within that period of time. Instead, humans must have evolved the capacity to learn through cultural transmission. This provides a more plausible explanation that would fit within the given time frame. Instead of having to biologically account for each cognitive mechanism that distinguishes modern humans from previous relatives, one would only have to account for one significant biological adaptation for cultural learning. According to this view, the ability to learn through cultural transmission is what distinguishes humans from other primates. Cultural learning allows humans to build on existing knowledge and make collective advancements, also known as the “ratchet effect”. The ratchet effect simply refers to the way in which humans continuously add on to existing knowledge through modifications and improvements. This unique ability distinguishes humans from related primates, who do not seem to build collaborative knowledge over time. Instead, primates seem to build individual knowledge, in which the expertise of one animal is not built on by others, and does not progress across time.

Imitative learning is a type of social learning whereby new behaviors are acquired via imitation. Imitation aids in communication, social interaction, and the ability to modulate one's emotions to account for the emotions of others, and is "essential for healthy sensorimotor development and social functioning". The ability to match one's actions to those observed in others occurs in humans and animals; imitative learning plays an important role in humans in cultural development. Imitative learning is different from observational learning in that it requires a duplication of the behaviour exhibited by the model, whereas observational learning can occur when the learner observes an unwanted behaviour and its subsequent consequences and as a result learns to avoid that behaviour.

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American anthropology

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  1. biological anthropology
  2. linguistic anthropology
  3. cultural anthropology
  4. archaeology

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Intention is a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.

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Theory of mind in animals

Theory of mind in animals is an extension to non-human animals of the philosophical and psychological concept of theory of mind (ToM), sometimes known as mentalisation or mind-reading. It involves an inquiry into whether animals have the ability to attribute mental states to themselves and others, including recognition that others have mental states that are different from their own. To investigate this issue experimentally, researchers place animals in situations where their resulting behavior can be interpreted as supporting ToM or not.

References

  1. ↑ "Educational Psychology Interactive: Observational Learning". www.edpsycinteractive.org.
  2. ↑ Wood, D. 1988. How children think and learn. London: Basil Blackwell.
  3. ↑ Tomasello, M. 1990. Cultural transmission in the tool use and communicatory signaling of chimpanzees? In: "Language" and intelligence in monkeys and apes: Comparative developmental perspectives (Ed. by Parker, S. T. & Gibson, K. R.), pp. 274-311. New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press.
  4. ↑ Tomasello, M., Davis-Dasilva, M., Camak, L. & Bard, K. 1987. Observational learning of tool use by young chimpanzees. Human evolution, 2, 175-183.
  5. ↑ Tomasello, M. 1996. Do apes ape? In: Social learning in animals: The roots of culture (Ed. by Heyes, C. M. & Galef, B. G., Jr.), pp. 319-346. San Diego, CA, USA: Academic Press, Inc.
  6. ↑ Boesch, C. & Tomasello, M. 1998. Chimpanzee and human cultures. Current Anthropology, 39, 591-614.
  7. ↑ Custance, D. M., Whiten, A. & Fredman, T. 1999. Social learning of an artificial fruit task in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 113, 13-23.
  8. ↑ Tomasello, M. 1999. Emulation learning and cultural learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 703-704.
  9. ↑ Call, J. & Tomasello, M. 1995. Use of social information in the problem solving of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and human children (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 109, 308-320.
  10. ↑ Call, J. & Carpenter, M. 2001. Three sources of information in social learning. In: Imitation in Animals and artifacts (Ed. by Dautenkahn, K.): MIT Press.
  11. ↑ Huang, C.-T. & Charman, T. 2005 Gradations of Emulation Learning in Infants' Imitation of Actions on Objects. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 92, 276-302
  12. ↑ Byrne, R.W- 2002 Emulation in apes: verdict 'not proven' Behavioral and Brain Sciences 5, 21-22
  13. ↑ Heyes, C. M., Jaldow, E., Nokes, T. & Dawson, G. R. 1994: Imitation in rats (Rattus norvergicus): the role of demonstrator action. Behav. Proc. 32, 173—182.
  14. ↑ Byrne, R. W. 2002 Imitation of novel complex actions: what does the evidence from animals mean? Adv. Study Behav. 31, 77–105.
  15. ↑ Klein, E. D. & Zentall, T. R. 2003 Imitation and affordance learning by pigeons (Columba livia). J. Comp. Psychol. 117, 414–419
  16. ↑ Tennie, C., J. Call, et al. (2006). "Push or Pull: Imitation vs. Emulation in Great Apes and Human Children." Ethology 112(12): 1159-1169.
  17. ↑ Hopper, L. M., Spiteri, A., Lambeth, S. P., Schapiro, S. J., Horner, V. & Whiten, A. 2007 Experimental studies of traditions and underlying transmission processes in chimpanzees. Anim. Behav. 73, 1021–1032.
  18. ↑ Hopper, L. M., S. P. Lambeth, et al. (2008). "Observational Learning in Chimpanzees and Children Studied Through 'Ghost' Conditions." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B Biological Sciences 275(1636): 835-840.
  19. ↑ Miller, H. C., R. Rayburn-Reeves, et al. (2009). "Imitation, Emulation by Dogs Using a Bidirectional Control Procedure." Behavioural Processes 80(2): 109-114.
  20. ↑ Reindl, E., Apperly, I.A., Beck, S.R., & Tennie, C. (2017). "Young children copy cumulative technological design in the absence of action information". Scientific Reports 7: 1788.

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