Rachel Kendal

Durham University, Anthropology, Faculty Member

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Address: Brandon, England, United Kingdom

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Papers by Rachel Kendal

Innovators have many friends: Investigating the relationship between children's social network properties and the propensity to copy or innovate

by Bruce Rawlings and Rachel Kendal

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To Copy or To Innovate? The Role of Personality and Social Networks in Children's Learning Strategies

by Bruce Rawlings, Emma Flynn, and Rachel Kendal

—In our technologically complex world, children frequently have problems to solve and skills to l... more —In our technologically complex world, children frequently have problems to solve and skills to learn. They can develop solutions through learning strategies involving social learning or asocial endeavors. While evidence is emerging that children may differ individually in their propensity to adopt different learning strategies, little is known about what underlies these differences. In this article, we reflect on recent research with children , adults, and nonhuman animals regarding individual differences in learning strategies. We suggest that characteristics of children's personalities and children's positions in their social networks are pertinent to individual differences in their learning strategies. These are likely pivotal factors in the learning strategies children adopt, and thus can help us understand who copies and who innovates, an important question for cultural evolution. We also discuss how methodological issues constrain developmental researchers in this field and provide suggestions for ongoing work.

format_quoteExtraversion in adults and animals increases social learning tendencies, revealing potential links to children's learning behaviors.format_quote

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Female mate choice and male mating strategies in wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

The landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso has been presumed to harbour at least nine sp... more The landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso has been presumed to harbour at least nine species of primates, although data are sparse. It is imperative to determine which primates are still present in Burkina and the threats currently imposed in order to mitigate potential long-term anthropogenic effects. Between May 11 and July 16, 2012, we conducted reconnaissance surveys of nearly 250 km within five different forest reserves across southern Burkina Faso. We recorded both direct and indirect signs of presence for both primates and poaching activities. Our surveys were supplemented with qualitative interviews with 24 farmers and forestry workers. We were able to confirm the presence of only five species: Chlorocebus aethiops , Chlorocebus sabaeus , Erythrocebus patas , Galago senegalensis and Papio anubis . We propose that the Vulnerable Colobus vellerosus and Endangered Cercocebus atys lunulatus are very near extirpation and that the Endangered Pan troglodytes verus has been extirpated from this historic range country. Encounter rates for signs of poaching ranged from zero to 0.443/km, were highest in study sites bordering Ghana and the Ivory Coast, and within which anti-poaching patrollers reported having little to no authority to approach or arrest. There was a strong inverse relationship between signs of poaching and encounter rates for P.anubis and Chlorocebus spp., most notably a significant negative correlation between shotgun shells and primate presence. We suggest that the future of the remaining Burkinabé primates will depend on improvements to park management, particularly an increase in anti-poaching patrols and in the authority of anti-poaching patrollers, as well as increased border protection within protected areas bordering the Ivory Coast.

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Robust retention and transfer of tool construction techniques in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

by Rachel Kendal, Emma Flynn, Gill Vale, and S. Schapiro

Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2016

Long-term memory can be critical to a species&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; survival in enviro... more Long-term memory can be critical to a species&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; survival in environments with seasonal and even longer-term cycles of resource availability. The present, longitudinal study investigated whether complex tool behaviors used to gain an out-of-reach reward, following a hiatus of about 3 years and 7 months since initial experiences with a tool use task, were retained and subsequently executed more quickly by experienced than by naïve chimpanzees. Ten of the 11 retested chimpanzees displayed impressive long-term procedural memory, creating elongated tools using the same methods employed years previously, either combining 2 tools or extending a single tool. The complex tool behaviors were also transferred to a different task context, showing behavioral flexibility. This represents some of the first evidence for appreciable long-term procedural memory, and improvements in the utility of complex tool manufacture in chimpanzees. Such long-term procedural memory and behavioral flexibility have important implications for the longevity and transmission of behavioral traditions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Testing social learning in wild bearded capuchin monkeys using a two-action task and social network analysis

by Rachel Kendal and Camila Coelho

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Subjectivity may hinder the application of Kline's teaching framework in comparative contexts

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2015

We welcome Kline&amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s attempt to develop an overarching framework to allow m... more We welcome Kline&amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s attempt to develop an overarching framework to allow much needed collaboration between fields in the study of teaching. While we see much utility in this enterprise, we are concerned that there is too much focus on the behavior of the teacher, without examining results or costs, and the categories within the framework are not sufficiently distinct.

Imitate or innovate? Children's innovation is influenced by the efficacy of observed behaviour

by Rachel Kendal and Emma Flynn

Cognition, Jan 10, 2015

This study investigated the age at which children judge it futile to imitate unreliable informati... more This study investigated the age at which children judge it futile to imitate unreliable information, in the form of a visibly ineffective demonstrated solution, and deviate to produce novel solutions ('innovations'). Children aged 4-9years were presented with a novel puzzle box, the Multiple-Methods Box (MMB), which offered multiple innovation opportunities to extract a reward using different tools, access points and exits. 209 children were assigned to conditions in which eight social demonstrations of a reward retrieval method were provided; each condition differed incrementally in terms of the method's efficacy (0%, 25%, 75%, and 100% success at extracting the reward). An additional 47 children were assigned to a no-demonstration control condition. Innovative reward extractions from the MMB increased with decreasing efficacy of the demonstrated method. However, imitation remained a widely used strategy irrespective of the efficacy of the method being reproduced (90% o...

format_quoteParticipants primarily modified tool usage rather than access points or exits, indicating specific tendencies in innovative problem-solving strategies.format_quote

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Animal'culture wars

Species difference in adaptive use of public information in sticklebacks

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2003

Animals foraging on variable food sources can refine their estimates of patch quality by monitori... more Animals foraging on variable food sources can refine their estimates of patch quality by monitoring the success of others (i.e. collect 'public information'). Here, we show that both three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) use past cues provided by others to locate food but only nine-spined sticklebacks use prior public information to assess patch quality, regardless of whether demonstrators were conspecifics or heterospecifics. Moreover, nine-spined but not three-spined sticklebacks preferentially hid in vegetation during the demonstration, a position from which they could observe both patches simultaneously and collect public information. We conclude that species differences in the use of public information can be explained by variations in habitat choice and response to predation. Our findings expand current understanding of the scope of public-information use in animals by showing that fishes can use public-information in a foraging context and from heterospecifics. The study suggests that public-information use is an adaptation that allows animals vulnerable to predation to acquire valuable foraging information at low risk.