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Adaptive Learning

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Adaptive plasticity; Associative learning; Cultural learning; Cultural transmission; Optimal imitation; Optimal learning

Definition

A category of learning strategies which promotes an individual’s assimilation of successful behaviors, traits, and skills, increasing an individual’s level of fitness in a given environment

Introduction

A construct of interest to both the fields of developmental and evolutionary psychology is Adaptive Learning, sometimes referred to as adaptive plasticity, which some researchers have labeled as an overarching category of learning strategies that contribute to an individual’s level of fitness in a given environment (Kameda and Nakanishi 2002). Currently, adaptive learning has been reviewed within the context of its relationship to the Baldwin effect, which states that the utilization of Adaptive Learning increases the rate at which a species undergoes evolutionary changes to the phenotype (Sznajder et al. 2012). However, this entry seeks to...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Psychology, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN, USA

    Christopher A. Treece & Stephanie A. Kazanas

Authors
  1. Christopher A. Treece
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  2. Stephanie A. Kazanas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie A. Kazanas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Karin Machluf

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Treece, C.A., Kazanas, S.A. (2019). Adaptive Learning. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2123-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2123-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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