scholarly journals The social network and communicative complexity: preface to theme issue

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1597) ◽  
pp. 1782-1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd M. Freeberg ◽  
Terry J. Ord ◽  
Robin I. M. Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Signalling Systems

The complex social worlds of many animal species may be linked to complex communicative systems in those species. We now have evidence in diverse taxa and in different communicative modalities suggesting that complexity in social groups can drive complexity in signalling systems. The aim of this theme issue is to develop the theory behind this link between social complexity and communicative complexity, and to provide an overview of the lines of research testing this link.

Social Networks and Social Complexity in Female-bonded Primates

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Lehmann ◽  
Katherine Andrews ◽  
Robin Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Primate Brain ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Primate Group ◽  
Network Metrics ◽  
The Relationship

Most primates are intensely social and spend a large amount of time servicing social relationships. The social brain hypothesis suggests that the evolution of the primate brain has been driven by the necessity of dealing with increased social complexity. This chapter uses social network analysis to analyse the relationship between primate group size, neocortex ratio and several social network metrics. Findings suggest that social complexity may derive from managing indirect social relationships, i.e. relationships in which a female is not directly involved, which may pose high cognitive demands on primates. The discussion notes that a large neocortex allows individuals to form intense social bonds with some group members while at the same time enabling them to manage and monitor less intense indirect relationships without frequent direct involvement with each individual of the social group.

scholarly journals How does cognition shape social relationships?

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1756) ◽  
pp. 20170293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A. F. Wascher ◽  
Ipek G. Kulahci ◽  
Ellis J. G. Langley ◽  
Rachael C. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

The requirements of living in social groups, and forming and maintaining social relationships are hypothesized to be one of the major drivers behind the evolution of cognitive abilities. Most empirical studies investigating the relationships between sociality and cognition compare cognitive performance between species living in systems that differ in social complexity. In this review, we ask whether and how individuals benefit from cognitive skills in their social interactions. Cognitive abilities, such as perception, attention, learning, memory, and inhibitory control, aid in forming and maintaining social relationships. We investigate whether there is evidence that individual variation in these abilities influences individual variation in social relationships. We then consider the evolutionary consequences of the interaction between sociality and cognitive ability to address whether bi-directional relationships exist between the two, such that cognition can both shape and be shaped by social interactions and the social environment. In doing so, we suggest that social network analysis is emerging as a powerful tool that can be used to test for directional causal relationships between sociality and cognition. Overall, our review highlights the importance of investigating individual variation in cognition to understand how it shapes the patterns of social relationships. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities’.

scholarly journals An intraspecific appraisal of the social intelligence hypothesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1756) ◽  
pp. 20170288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Ashton ◽  
Alex Thornton ◽  
Amanda R. Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Social Intelligence Hypothesis ◽  
Developmental Factors ◽  
Cognitive Research ◽  
The Social

The prevailing hypotheses for the evolution of cognition focus on either the demands associated with group living (the social intelligence hypothesis (SIH)) or ecological challenges such as finding food. Comparative studies testing these hypotheses have generated highly conflicting results; consequently, our understanding of the drivers of cognitive evolution remains limited. To understand how selection shapes cognition, research must incorporate an intraspecific approach, focusing on the causes and consequences of individual variation in cognition. Here, we review the findings of recent intraspecific cognitive research to investigate the predictions of the SIH. Extensive evidence from our own research on Australian magpies ( Cracticus tibicen dorsalis ), and a number of other taxa, suggests that individuals in larger social groups exhibit elevated cognitive performance and, in some cases, elevated reproductive fitness. Not only do these findings demonstrate how the social environment has the potential to shape cognitive evolution, but crucially, they demonstrate the importance of considering both genetic and developmental factors when attempting to explain the causes of cognitive variation. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities’.

scholarly journals Intentional gestures predict complex sociality in wild chimpanzee

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ilona Roberts ◽  
Sam George Bradley Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Wild Chimpanzee ◽  
Gestural Communication ◽  
East African ◽  
Behavioral Reactions ◽  
Rapid Sequence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Made In

AbstractA key challenge for primates is coordinating behavior with conspecifics in large, complex social groups. Gestures play a key role in this process and chimpanzees show considerable flexibility communicating through single gestures, sequences of gestures interspersed with periods of response waiting (persistence) and rapid sequences where gestures are made in quick succession, too rapid for the response waiting to have occurred. Previous studies examined behavioral reactions to single gestures and sequences, but whether this complexity is associated with more complex sociality at the level of the dyad partner and the group as a whole is not well understood. We used social network analysis to examine how the production of single gestures and sequences of gestures was related to the duration of time spent in proximity and individual differences in proximity in wild East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Pairs of chimpanzees that spent a longer duration of time in proximity had higher rates of persistence, but not a higher rate of single gesture or rapid sequences. Central individuals in the social network received higher rates of persistence, but not rapid sequence or single gesture. Intentional gestural communication plays an important role in regulating social interactions in complex primate societies.

scholarly journals Movement social learning on Twitter: The case of the People’s Assembly

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Mercea ◽  
Kutlu Emre Yilmaz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Diffusion Process ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Credit Crunch ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk

The article examines the UK movement People’s Assembly against Austerity. It probes the extent to which opposition to austerity expressed on Twitter contributes to building bridges among disparate social groups affected by austerity politics and to enabling their joint collective action. The study aims to add to the scholarship on anti-austerity protests since the credit crunch. Numerous of those protests have been accompanied by vibrant activity on social media. Rather than to propose yet another examination of participant mobilisation on social media, the analysis delineates and seeks to evidence a process of social learning among the social media following of a social movement. Relying on a combination of social network, semantic and discourse analysis, the authors discuss movement social learning as a diffusion process transpiring in the communication over an extended period of substantive and organisational issues, strategy and critical reflections that crystallised a cohesive in-group among the participant entities in the People’s Assembly.

scholarly journals Lineal kinship organization in cross-specific perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1780) ◽  
pp. 20190005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Fortunato
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Social System ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
The Other ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Domains

I draw on insights from anthropology to outline a framework for the study of kinship systems that applies across animal species with biparental sexual reproduction. In particular, I define lineal kinship organization as a social system that emphasizes interactions among lineally related kin—that is, individuals related through females only, if the emphasis is towards matrilineal kin, and individuals related through males only, if the emphasis is towards patrilineal kin. In a given population, the emphasis may be expressed in one or more social domains, corresponding to pathways for the transmission of different resources across generations (e.g. the allocation of food, the transfer of access to the natal territory or household). A lineal bias in any domain can be viewed as a bias in investment towards a particular set of kin—specifically, towards the offspring of daughters if the bias is matrilineal, and towards the offspring of sons if the bias is patrilineal. Effectively, investment is restricted to the offspring of the females in the population in one case, and to the offspring of the males in the other. This is distinct from a bias in investment towards daughters and towards sons, respectively. Overall, I propose a shift in focus—from viewing matrilineal and patrilineal kinship as unitary phenomena, to consideration of the different aspects of the social system featuring a bias towards lineally related kin. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals’.

scholarly journals Society’s Perception on Residences in Development Area Attachment: A Case Study of PLPBK in Tulusrejo Village, Lowokwaru Sub-District, Malang City

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-50
Author(s):  
Devi Triwidya Sitaresmi ◽  
Ismu Rini Dwi Ari ◽  
I Nyoman Suluh Wijaya
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Place Attachment ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
The Social ◽  
Life Journey ◽  
Deep Meaning ◽  
Network Mapping

This study involved residents of RT 02 and RT 03, Tulusrejo sub-district. The setting of this study was one of the government’s target residence related to the project of Community-Based City and Residence Planning or Penataan Lingkungan Pemukiman Berbasis Komunitas (PLPBK), which success depended on society’s participation. Social bonds that result from long-term social interaction and life journey create emotional feeling upon their residences (Hummon, 1990). The place where people live and do their daily activities has certain deep meaning for them (Kyle et al, 2004), which at the same time affects the social psychological domain called place attachment (Lewicka, 2011). Thus, it was necessary to create strong social bonds and strengthen residents’ place attachment feeling for the success of the PLPBK program. In this study, social network mapping was analyzed using the Social Network Analysis (SNA). Meanwhile, to explain residents’ perception on their residence, Multidimensional Scaling was used. The result of this study exhibits that some social groups were formed upon certain similarities and membership of a certain organization. Besides, social groups were also formed by similar community attachment.Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 5, Issue-1: 46-50

scholarly journals Discovering Social Community Structures Based on Human Mobility Traces

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong-Binh Nguyen ◽  
Seokhoon Yoon ◽  
Jangyoung Kim
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Community Detection ◽  
Clustering Algorithms ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Social Community ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
The Social

We consider a community detection problem in a social network. A social network is composed of smaller communities; that is, a society can be partitioned into different social groups in which the members of the same group maintain stronger and denser social connections than individuals from different groups. In other words, people in the same community have substantially interdependent social characteristics, indicating that the community structure may facilitate understanding human interactions as well as individual’s behaviors. We detect the social groups within a network of mobile users by analyzing the Bluetooth-based encounter history from a real-life mobility dataset. Our community detection methodology focuses on designing similarity measurements that can reflect the degree of social connections between users by considering tempospatial aspects of human interactions, followed by clustering algorithms. We also present two evaluation methods for the proposed schemes. The first method relies on the natural properties of friendship, where the longevity, frequency, and regularity characteristics of human encounters are considered. The second is a movement-prediction-based method which is used to verify the social ties between users. The evaluation results show that the proposed schemes can achieve high performance in detecting the social community structure.

scholarly journals Social brains, simple minds: does social complexity really require cognitive complexity?

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1480) ◽  
pp. 561-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Barrett ◽  
Peter Henzi ◽  
Drew Rendall
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Mind

The social brain hypothesis is a well-accepted and well-supported evolutionary theory of enlarged brain size in the non-human primates. Nevertheless, it tends to emphasize an anthropocentric view of social life and cognition. This often leads to confusion between ultimate and proximate mechanisms, and an over-reliance on a Cartesian, narratively structured view of the mind and social life, which in turn lead to views of social complexity that are congenial to our views of ourselves, rather than necessarily representative of primate social worlds. In this paper, we argue for greater attention to embodied and distributed theories of cognition, which get us away from current fixations on ‘theory of mind’ and other high-level anthropocentric constructions, and allow for the generation of testable hypotheses that combine neurobiology, psychology and behaviour in a mutually reinforcing manner.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document