An Evolutionary Perspective on Information Processing

Trimmer, Pete C.; Houston, Alasdair I.

doi:10.1111/tops.12085

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Such simple decision rule is also used by capuchin monkeys and humans262728, species that, like dogs, clearly have the capability to use individual information about past experiences when deciding to provide or refuse help to a social partner. Even if the use of individual information may allow more prudent cooperation decisions, the costs of processing such information might outweigh the benefits, as predicted by statistical decision theory354142.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working dogs cooperate among one another by generalised reciprocity

Gfrerer

Taborsky

2017

Sci Rep

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Cooperation by generalised reciprocity implies that individuals apply the decision rule “help anyone if helped by someone”. This mechanism has been shown to generate evolutionarily stable levels of cooperation, but as yet it is unclear how widely this cooperation mechanism is applied among animals. Dogs (Canis familiaris) are highly social animals with considerable cognitive potential and the ability to differentiate between individual social partners. But although dogs can solve complex problems, they may use simple rules for behavioural decisions. Here we show that dogs trained in an instrumental cooperative task to provide food to a social partner help conspecifics more often after receiving help from a dog before. Remarkably, in so doing they show no distinction between partners that had helped them before and completely unfamiliar conspecifics. Apparently, dogs use the simple decision rule characterizing generalised reciprocity, although they are probably capable of using the more complex decision rule of direct reciprocity: “help someone who has helped you”. However, generalized reciprocity involves lower information processing costs and is therefore a cheaper cooperation strategy. Our results imply that generalised reciprocity might be applied more commonly than direct reciprocity also in other mutually cooperating animals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working dogs cooperate among one another by generalised reciprocity

Gfrerer

Taborsky

2017

Sci Rep

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“…Estimates of travel speed obtained from coarse grained sampling (e.g. Beyond how animals move, where they travel also affects their familiarity with their environment, modulating their opportunities for acquiring information about their surroundings [54]. Predispersal prospecting behaviors provide dispersing individuals with information about the conditions in their surrounding and can enhance survival and establishment success once they reach destination patches [55][56][57].…”

Section: The Effect Of Movements On Information Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The feedback between where we go and what we know — information shapes movement, but movement also impacts information acquisition

Spiegel

Crofoot

2016

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

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What animals know about their environment is crucial for understanding observed patterns of movement and space-use, but the feedback between information acquisition and movement is rarely considered. Animals can inherit spatial information or obtain it with their senses, via their social environment, or from direct experience. On one hand, this information affects decisions about when, where and how to move. On the other hand, movement itself shapes the information animals acquire due to effects of habitat sampling, speed-accuracy tradeoffs, and cognitive limitations. We suggest that simultaneously considering how the information animals have about their environment affects their movements and how these movements, in turn, shape the information they acquire about their habitat will provide useful insights to the field of movement ecology.

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“…Relevant information can be obtained from deliberate exchanges between rivals 34,50 or from secondary cues (e.g., faecal deposits 51,52 ). The cognitive demands of signal detection, deception, interpretation and response, as well as integrating information of differing reliability from direct and indirect sources, is likely considerable 53 .…”

Section: Cognitive Challenges Arising From Interactions With Conspecimentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions with conspecific outsiders as drivers of cognitive evolution

2020

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The social intelligence hypothesis (SIH) posits that within-group interactions drive cognitive evolution, but it has received equivocal support. We argue the SIH overlooks a major component of social life: interactions with conspecific outsiders. Competition for vital resources means conspecific outsiders present myriad threats and opportunities in all animal taxa across the social spectrum (from individuals to groups). We detail cognitive challenges generated by conspecific outsiders, arguing these select for ‘Napoleonic’ intelligence; explain potential influences on the SIH; and highlight important considerations when empirically testing these ideas. Including interactions with conspecific outsiders may substantially improve our understanding of cognitive evolution.

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An Evolutionary Perspective on Information Processing

Cited by 13 publications

References 58 publications

Working dogs cooperate among one another by generalised reciprocity

Working dogs cooperate among one another by generalised reciprocity

The feedback between where we go and what we know — information shapes movement, but movement also impacts information acquisition

Interactions with conspecific outsiders as drivers of cognitive evolution

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