In shaping how individuals explore their environment and interact with others, personality may mediate both individual and social learning. Yet increasing evidence indicates that personality expression is contingent on social context, suggesting that group personality composition may be key in determining how individuals learn about their environment. Here, we used recovery latency following simulated predator attacks to identify Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) that acted in a consistently bold or shy manner. We then employed network-based diffusion analysis to track the spread of a novel foraging behaviour through groups containing different proportions of bold and shy fish. Informed associates promoted learning to a greater extent in bold individuals, but only within groups composed predominately of bold fish. As the proportion of shy fish within groups increased, bold individuals instead emerged as especially effective demonstrators that facilitated learning in others. Individuals were also more likely to learn overall within shy-dominated groups than in bold-dominated ones. We demonstrate that whether and how individuals learn is conditional on group personality composition, indicating that selection may favour traits enabling individuals to better match their behavioural phenotype to their social environment.

中文翻译：

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性格构成决定了浅水鱼的社会学习途径

在塑造个人探索环境和与他人互动的方式时，个性可能会调节个人和社会学习。然而，越来越多的证据表明，个性表达取决于社会背景，这表明群体个性构成可能是决定个人如何了解环境的关键。在这里，我们使用模拟捕食者攻击后的恢复延迟来识别以一贯大胆或害羞的方式行事的特立尼达孔雀鱼（Poecilia reticulata）。然后，我们采用基于网络的扩散分析来跟踪新的觅食行为通过包含不同比例的大胆和害羞鱼的群体的传播。知情的同事在更大程度上促进了大胆个体的学习，但仅限于主要由大胆鱼组成的群体。随着群体中害羞鱼的比例增加，大胆的个体反而成为特别有效的示范者，促进了他人的学习。个人在害羞主导的群体中比在大胆主导的群体中更有可能学习整体。我们证明了个人是否以及如何学习取决于群体人格构成，表明选择可能有利于使个人能够更好地将其行为表型与其社会环境相匹配的特征。