Evolution of social learning in lattice-structured populations

Abstract

Individual and social learning underpin human cultural diversity and successful expansion into diverse environments. The evolution of social learning has been a subject of active debate: in particular, recent studies considering whether spatial structure favors or disfavors the evolution of social learning have produced mixed results. Here we report the results of our computational experiments in lattice-structured populations, suggesting that spatial structure disfavors the evolution of social learning in a wide parameter region. Our results also indicate that the effect of spatial structure depends on the mode of cultural transmission (from whom social learners acquire behaviors) and the updating scheme (whether individuals update their strategies synchronously or asynchronously).