Recognising the key role of individual recognition in social networks

Abstract

Many aspects of sociality rely on individuals recognising one another. Understanding how, when, and if individuals recognise others can yield insights into the foundations of social relationships and behaviours. Through synthesising individual recognition research in different sensory and social domains, and doing so across various related social contexts, we propose that a social network perspective can help to uncover how individual recognition may vary across different settings, species, and populations. Specifically, combining individual recognition with social networks has unrecognised potential for determining the level and relative importance of individual recognition complexity. This will provide insights not only on the ecology and evolution of individual recognition itself, but also on social structure, social transmission, and social interactions such as cooperation.

Keywords: cooperation; individual recognition; social networks; social structure; social transmission; sociality.