Abstract
The problem of social learning has been studied by psychologists and sociologists in the laboratory and the real world. We first consider the special, somewhat timely, problem of teaching a group of men to be good paratroopers. Some mathematical models are developed for a simple social learning situation, and necessary and sufficient conditions are then given for obtaining the “best” learning results or “most” learning for these models. The results are then generalized to cover other social learning situations; for example, classroom teaching, possibly.
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This paper was prepared in connection with research sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The author is indebted to Dr. H. G. Landau of the University of Chicago Committee on Mathematical Biology for some very helpful comments.
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Goodman, L.A. On optimal arrangements in some social learning situations. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 14, 307–312 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02477847
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02477847