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Culture

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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

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Abstract

Once a controversial subject, it is now broadly accepted that many nonhuman animals display culture, sometimes entailing significant complexity. This can involve substantial within-species and between-group variation in behavior as a result of social learning. Behavior transmitted in this way is taxonomically widespread and involves variation across a broad range of domains of behavior, including but not limited to vocal, sexual, and foraging behavior. This entry provides an overview of the history of the study of culture in nonhuman animals and subsequent investigations of the processes and transmission biases that underpin social learning. It also introduces some of the key differences between human and animal culture and cultural transmission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    Stuart K. Watson & Andrew Whiten

Authors
  1. Stuart K. Watson
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  2. Andrew Whiten
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Correspondence to Stuart K. Watson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Durham University, Durham, UK

    Zanna Clay

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Watson, S.K., Whiten, A. (2022). Culture. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_1895

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