Comparisons Between Individual, Imitative and Instructed Learning

Abstract

Although the Neanderthals were social learners (i.e., learning by imitation) whereas modern humans are individual learner-focused, modern humans can be characterized as unique social learners who can learn from a teacher/model. However, we do not know the most effective method of learning: individual, imitative or instructed. Nor do we know the psychological characteristics of each respective style. In this study, we compared the efficiency and psychological characteristics of individual, imitative and instructed learning by asking 20 Japanese university students to disentangle a series of puzzles and then statistically analyzing each style for its effectiveness. We found that individual learning was the most efficient strategy when the number of successful trials completed in 10 min was used as a measure of learning efficiency. The motivation to teach was affected by the imitator’s attentiveness towards a teacher while imitating, and their feelings of direct and indirect relationship to a teacher when being instructed. Feeling of the task’s difficulty and having an ambitious/competitive attitude were predispositions for attentiveness towards a model. Although teaching is not always the most efficient strategy to transfer skills and knowledge, we discovered that those who had high ability and interest in others’ behavior and who were not competitive would be in charge of teaching.