Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Dec;47(4):275-276.
doi: 10.3758/s13420-018-0335-0.

Smarter through group living?

Tom V Smulders  1
Affiliations

Smarter through group living?

Tom V Smulders. Learn Behav. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Wild Australian magpies living (or growing up) in larger social groups take fewer trials to solve a battery of four cognitive tests than those living (or growing up) in smaller groups. The tests all draw on a common underlying factor, but is this factor cognitive or motivational?

Keywords: Comparative cognition; Social intelligence hypothesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ashton BJ, Ridley AR, Edwards EK, Thornton A. Cognitive performance is linked to group size and affects fitness in Australian magpies. Nature. 2018;554:364–367. doi: 10.1038/nature25503. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Higgins PJ, Peter JM, Cowling SJ. Gymnorhina tibicen - Australian Magpie Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Melbourne: Oxford University Press; 2006. pp. 579–629.
    1. Rowe C, Healy SD. Measuring variation in cognition. Behavioral Ecology. 2014;25(6):1287–1292. doi: 10.1093/beheco/aru090. - DOI
    1. Shaw RC, Boogert NJ, Clayton NS, Burns KC. Wild psychometrics: evidence for ‘general’ cognitive performance in wild New Zealand robins, Petroica longipes. Animal Behaviour. 2015;109:101–111. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.08.001. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources