Big Brains, Slow Development and Social Complexity: The Developmental and Evolutionary Origins of Social Cognition

Maternal effects in cooperative breeders: from hymenopterans to humans

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2008.0298 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 364 (1520) ◽

pp. 1143-1167 ◽

Cited By ~ 77

Author(s):

Andrew F Russell ◽

Virpi Lummaa

Keyword(s):

Maternal Effects ◽

Cooperative Breeding ◽

Social Complexity ◽

Cooperative Systems ◽

Breeding Systems ◽

Model Systems ◽

Maternal Environment ◽

Evolutionary Origins ◽

Different Types ◽

Do So

The environment that an offspring experiences during its development can have lifelong consequences for its morphology, anatomy, physiology and behaviour that are strong enough to span generations. One aspect of an offspring's environment that can have particularly pronounced and long-lasting effects is that provided by its parent(s) (maternal effects). Some disciplines in biology have been quicker to appreciate maternal effects than others, and some organisms provide better model systems for understanding the causes and consequences of the maternal environment for ecology and evolution than others. One field in which maternal effects has been poorly represented, and yet is likely to represent a particularly fruitful area for research, is the field of cooperative breeding (i.e. systems where offspring are reared by carers in addition to parent(s)). Here, we attempt to illustrate the scope of cooperative breeding systems for maternal effects research and, conversely, highlight the importance of maternal effects research for understanding cooperative breeding systems. To this end, we first outline why mothers will commonly benefit from affecting the phenotype of their offspring in cooperative breeding systems, present potential strategies that mothers could employ in order to do so and offer predictions regarding the circumstances under which different types of maternal effects might be expected. Second, we highlight why a neglect of maternal strategies and the effects that they have on their offspring could lead to miscalculations of helper/worker fitness gains and a misunderstanding of the factors selecting for the evolution and maintenance of cooperative breeding. Finally, we introduce the possibility that maternal effects could have significant consequences for our understanding of both the evolutionary origins of cooperative breeding and the rise of social complexity in cooperative systems.

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Refining our understanding of the “elephant in the room”

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x20000096 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Whiten

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Cultural Evolution ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Critical Factors ◽

Technological Culture

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.

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A little too technical: The threat of intellectualising technical reasoning

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x20000242 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ian Robertson

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Human Reasoning ◽

Technological Culture ◽

Technical Reasoning

Abstract Osiurak and Reynaud (O&R) claim that research into the origin of cumulative technological culture has been too focused on social cognition and has consequently neglected the importance of uniquely human reasoning capacities. This commentary raises two interrelated theoretical concerns about O&R's notion of technical-reasoning capacities, and suggests how these concerns might be met.

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Are Deficits in Social Cognition Linked to Autobiographical Memory in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease?

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024/1016-264x/a000187 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 257-264 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Johannes H. Scheidemann ◽

Franz Petermann ◽

Marc Schipper

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Positive Relationship ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Clinical Group ◽

Neuropsychological Test Battery ◽

Fluency Task

Abstract. We investigated theory of mind (ToM) deficits in Alzheimer‘s disease (AD) and its possible connection to autobiographical memory (ABM). Patients and matched controls were evaluated and compared using a video-based ToM test, an autobiographical fluency task, and a neuropsychological test battery. We found that ToM deficits were positively associated with semantic ABM in the clinical group, whereas a positive relationship appeared between ToM and episodic ABM in controls. We hypothesize that this reflects the course of the disease as well as that semantic ABM is used for ToM processing, being still accessible in AD. Furthermore, we assume that it is also less efficient, which in turn leads to a specific deficit profile of social cognition.

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What Does It Take to Activate Stereotypes? Simple Primes Don’t Seem Enough

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000183 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 187-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Florian Müller ◽

Klaus Rothermund

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Semantic Priming ◽

Response Priming ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Stereotype Activation

According to social cognition textbooks, stereotypes are activated automatically if appropriate categorical cues are processed. Although many studies have tested effects of activated stereotypes on behavior, few have tested the process of stereotype activation. Blair and Banaji (1996) demonstrated that subjects were faster to categorize first names as male or female if those were preceded by gender congruent attribute primes. The same, albeit smaller, effects emerged in a semantic priming design ruling out response priming by Banaji and Hardin (1996) . We sought to replicate these important effects. Mirroring Blair and Banaji (1996) we found strong priming effects as long as response priming was possible. However, unlike Banaji and Hardin (1996) , we did not find any evidence for automatic stereotype activation, when response priming was ruled out. Our findings suggest that automatic stereotype activation is not a reliable and global phenomenon but is restricted to more specific conditions.

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