ABSTRACT
The significance of social learning to human development can be illustrated by considering three different models of the sources of an agent’s abilities to survive in and cope with its
environment. The first model appeals only to inherited cognitive abilities and makes little use of the notion of learning. The second supplements the set of inherited abilities with further individual learning; and a third model explains survival via a combination of inherited abilities, and individual and social learning. While the first and second models might suffice to explain the survival of some organisms, no one would claim that they are adequate for the characterisation of humans.1 However, considering the differences between the models will highlight the importance of social learning to human forms of life.
