The ABC of social learning: Affect, Behaviour and Cognition

Debates concerning social learning in the behavioral and the developmental cognitive sciences have largely ignored the literature on social influence in the affective sciences despite having arguably the same object of study. We argue that this is a mistake and that no complete model of social learning can exclude an affective aspect. In addition, we argue that affect can allow bridging of the debates of the unique characteristics of social learning in humans compared to other animals. We first review the two major bodies of literature in non-human animals and human development, highlighting the fact that the former has adopted a behavioral approach while the latter has adopted a cognitive approach, leading to irreconcilable differences. We then introduce a novel framework, affective social learning (ASL), that studies the way we learn about value(s). We show that all three approaches are complementary and focus, respectively, on behavior towards, cognitions concerning, and feelings about objects, events and people in our environment. All three thus contribute to an affective, behavioral and cognitive story of knowledge transmission: the ABC of social learning. In particular, ASL can provide the backbone of an integrative approach to social learning. We argue that this novel perspective on social learning can allow both evolutionary continuity and ontogenetic development by lowering the cognitive thresholds that appear often too complex for other species and non-verbal infants. Yet, it can also explain some of the major achievements only found in human cultures.