Adaptive mechanisms of social and asocial learning in immersive collective foraging

Charley M. Wu (), Dominik Deffner, Benjamin Kahl, Björn Meder, Mark H. Ho and Ralf H.J.M. Kurvers
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Charley M. Wu: University of Tübingen
Dominik Deffner: Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Benjamin Kahl: Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Björn Meder: Department of Psychology, Health and Medical University
Mark H. Ho: New York University
Ralf H.J.M. Kurvers: Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Human cognition is distinguished by our ability to adapt to different environments and circumstances. Yet the mechanisms driving adaptive behavior have predominantly been studied in separate asocial and social contexts, with an integrated framework remaining elusive. Here, we use a collective foraging task in a virtual Minecraft environment to integrate these two fields, by leveraging automated transcriptions of visual field data combined with high-resolution spatial trajectories. Our behavioral analyses capture both the structure and temporal dynamics of social interactions, which are then directly tested using computational models sequentially predicting each foraging decision. These results reveal that adaptation mechanisms of both asocial foraging and selective social learning are driven by individual foraging success (rather than social factors). Furthermore, it is the degree of adaptivity—of both asocial and social learning—that best predicts individual performance. These findings not only integrate theories across asocial and social domains, but also provide key insights into the adaptability of human decision-making in complex and dynamic social landscapes.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58365-6

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