Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Focus on Europe

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 23 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5683, pp. 487 - 491
DOI: 10.1126/science.1098254
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Public Information: From Nosy Neighbors to Cultural Evolution

Étienne Danchin,1 Luc-Alain Giraldeau,2 Thomas J. Valone,3 Richard H. Wagner4

Psychologists, economists, and advertising moguls have long known that human decision-making is strongly influenced by the behavior of others. A rapidly accumulating body of evidence suggests that the same is true in animals. Individuals can use information arising from cues inadvertently produced by the behavior of other individuals with similar requirements. Many of these cues provide public information about the quality of alternatives. The use of public information is taxonomically widespread and can enhance fitness. Public information can lead to cultural evolution, which we suggest may then affect biological evolution.

1 U.P.M.C. CNRS-UMR7625, Bât A–7e étage–Case 237, 7 quai Saint Bernard, 75252 Paris Cédex 05, France. E-mail: edanchin{at}snv.jussieu.fr
2 Group de Recherche en Écologie Comportementale et Animale, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case Postale 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8, Canada. E-mail: giraldeau.luc-alain{at}uqam.ca
3 Department of Biology, St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63103, USA. E-mail: valone{at}slu.edu
4 Konrad Lorenz Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Savoyenstrasse 1a, A-1160 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: r.wagner{at}klivv.oeaw.ac.at

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Context-dependent mate choice in relation to social composition in green swordtails Xiphophorus helleri.
N. J. Royle, J. Lindstrom, and N. B. Metcalfe (2008)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Quorum decision-making facilitates information transfer in fish shoals.
A. J. W. Ward, D. J. T. Sumpter, I. D. Couzin, P. J. B. Hart, and J. Krause (2008)
PNAS 105, 6948-6953
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Competitor density cues for habitat quality facilitating habitat selection and investment decisions.
J. T. Forsman, M. B. Hjernquist, J. Taipale, and L. Gustafsson (2008)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Density, social information, and space use in the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara).
J. Cote, S. Boudsocq, and J. Clobert (2008)
Behav. Ecol. 19, 163-168
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mechanisms and fitness effects of interspecific information use between migrant and resident birds.
J. T. Forsman, R. L. Thomson, and J.-T. Seppanen (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 888-894
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Public information for solitary foragers: timber rattlesnakes use conspecific chemical cues to select ambush sites.
R. W. Clark (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 487-490
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The mixed-species chorus as public information: tungara frogs eavesdrop on a heterospecific.
S. M. Phelps, A. S. Rand, and M. J. Ryan (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 108-114
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mechanisms underlying sexual and affiliative behaviors of mice: relation to generalized CNS arousal.
D. N. Shelley, E. Choleris, M. Kavaliers, and D. W. Pfaff (2006)
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 1, 260-270
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Public information and conspecific nest parasitism in goldeneyes: targeting safe nests by parasites.
H. Poysa (2006)
Behav. Ecol. 17, 459-465
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inadvertent social information and the avoidance of parasitized male mice: A role for oxytocin..
M. Kavaliers, E. Choleris, A. Agmo, W. J. Braun, D. D. Colwell, L. J. Muglia, S. Ogawa, and D. W. Pfaff (2006)
PNAS 103, 4293-4298
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Luther Burbank: Honorary Member of the American Breeders' Association.
W. D. Stansfield (2006)
J. Hered. 97, 95-99
   Full Text »    PDF »
Predator detection and avoidance by starlings under differing scenarios of predation risk.
C. L. Devereux, M. J. Whittingham, E. Fernandez-Juricic, J. A. Vickery, and J. R. Krebs (2006)
Behav. Ecol. 17, 303-309
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Alternative models of conspecific attraction in flies and crabs.
J. Stamps, R. McElreath, and P. Eason (2005)
Behav. Ecol. 16, 974-980
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Foraging nine-spined sticklebacks prefer to rely on public information over simpler social cues.
I. Coolen, A. J.W. Ward, P. J.B. Hart, and K. N. Laland (2005)
Behav. Ecol. 16, 865-870
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) store both food and information in honeypots.
A. Dornhaus and L. Chittka (2005)
Behav. Ecol. 16, 661-666
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)