Kline categorizes teaching types according to their ability to address different social learning problems. However, the learning problems that she identifies all assume an attentive teacher. Absent from her discussion are situations in which the learner must direct the attention of the teacher in order to obtain relevant information. We argue that the early developing capacity of human learners to seek out reliable informants, initiate pedagogical episodes, and monitor and redirect ongoing instruction is critical to understanding humans' remarkable capacity for cumulative culture.
In order for instruction to be effective, it must be relevant: its content must be novel and useful and/or connected to the learner's prior knowledge (Sperber & Wilson Reference Sperber and Wilson1995). From the learners' perspective, one way to ensure that instruction is relevant is to select informants who are likely to be reliable. Recent research has shown that preschoolers are astute social learners who do not simply trust what they are told but selectively learn from informants (Harris Reference Harris2012). Remarkably, even infants display selective learning capacities (Harris & Lane Reference Harris and Lane2013). When presented with a novel toy in a laboratory setting, 12-month-old infants preferred to look at the experimenter for clarifying information rather than at their caregiver, even when the caregiver presented the novel toy (Stenberg Reference Stenberg2009; see also, Stenberg Reference Stenberg2013).
In addition to seeking out “local experts,” infants actively recruit informants to obtain relevant information by redirecting the attention of their caregivers to personally relevant stimuli and by initiating pedagogical episodes through information requests. For example, 10- to 13-month-old infants are more likely to combine pointing with vocalizations when mothers are not paying attention, or fail to respond to the target of the point (Wu & Gros-Louis Reference Wu and Gros-Louis2014), and 16-month-old infants are more likely to point to request information about novel objects when interacting with a knowledgeable experimenter rather than an ignorant experimenter (who had previously named familiar objects incorrectly and appeared unsure of the names of the novel objects) (Begus & Southgate Reference Begus and Southgate2012).
Preschoolers' language abilities give them additional tools to shape the instruction they receive. They frequently ask questions (Chouinard Reference Chouinard2007) and monitor informants' responses to their questions, often restating their questions or providing their own explanations when given unsatisfactory explanations (Frazier et al. Reference Frazier, Gelman and Wellman2009). Thus, young children not only initiate but also monitor and influence pedagogical exchanges.
Human leaners' early developing capacity to initiate and influence pedagogical situations has a catalyzing effect on the effectiveness of the teaching behaviors identified by Kline, because it makes human teaching more responsive and relevant to individual learners. In turn, this increases the quality and quantity of information that can be exchanged through instruction. Therefore, it will be important for future research to not only study the occurrence of the teaching behaviors identified by Kline across and within species, but to also study the occurrence of learner behaviors that direct and redirect instruction.
In conclusion, the remarkable human capacity for cumulative culture seems attributable not only to the human capacity for teaching, but also to the active role played by human learners in the teaching process.
Kline categorizes teaching types according to their ability to address different social learning problems. However, the learning problems that she identifies all assume an attentive teacher. Absent from her discussion are situations in which the learner must direct the attention of the teacher in order to obtain relevant information. We argue that the early developing capacity of human learners to seek out reliable informants, initiate pedagogical episodes, and monitor and redirect ongoing instruction is critical to understanding humans' remarkable capacity for cumulative culture.
In order for instruction to be effective, it must be relevant: its content must be novel and useful and/or connected to the learner's prior knowledge (Sperber & Wilson Reference Sperber and Wilson1995). From the learners' perspective, one way to ensure that instruction is relevant is to select informants who are likely to be reliable. Recent research has shown that preschoolers are astute social learners who do not simply trust what they are told but selectively learn from informants (Harris Reference Harris2012). Remarkably, even infants display selective learning capacities (Harris & Lane Reference Harris and Lane2013). When presented with a novel toy in a laboratory setting, 12-month-old infants preferred to look at the experimenter for clarifying information rather than at their caregiver, even when the caregiver presented the novel toy (Stenberg Reference Stenberg2009; see also, Stenberg Reference Stenberg2013).
In addition to seeking out “local experts,” infants actively recruit informants to obtain relevant information by redirecting the attention of their caregivers to personally relevant stimuli and by initiating pedagogical episodes through information requests. For example, 10- to 13-month-old infants are more likely to combine pointing with vocalizations when mothers are not paying attention, or fail to respond to the target of the point (Wu & Gros-Louis Reference Wu and Gros-Louis2014), and 16-month-old infants are more likely to point to request information about novel objects when interacting with a knowledgeable experimenter rather than an ignorant experimenter (who had previously named familiar objects incorrectly and appeared unsure of the names of the novel objects) (Begus & Southgate Reference Begus and Southgate2012).
Preschoolers' language abilities give them additional tools to shape the instruction they receive. They frequently ask questions (Chouinard Reference Chouinard2007) and monitor informants' responses to their questions, often restating their questions or providing their own explanations when given unsatisfactory explanations (Frazier et al. Reference Frazier, Gelman and Wellman2009). Thus, young children not only initiate but also monitor and influence pedagogical exchanges.
Human leaners' early developing capacity to initiate and influence pedagogical situations has a catalyzing effect on the effectiveness of the teaching behaviors identified by Kline, because it makes human teaching more responsive and relevant to individual learners. In turn, this increases the quality and quantity of information that can be exchanged through instruction. Therefore, it will be important for future research to not only study the occurrence of the teaching behaviors identified by Kline across and within species, but to also study the occurrence of learner behaviors that direct and redirect instruction.
In conclusion, the remarkable human capacity for cumulative culture seems attributable not only to the human capacity for teaching, but also to the active role played by human learners in the teaching process.