Social monkeys learn more slowly: Social network centrality and age are positively related to learning errors by capuchin monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] apella).

Abstract

The cognitive demand on animals to learn, maintain, and remember the complexities of social relationships is theoretically higher for individuals who live more complex social lives. Previous research has suggested that both across and within species, the cognitive ability to flexibly learn and manipulate information may increase with increased social complexity. In this study, we determined the relationship between social complexity and cognitive performance on 2 related tests of general learning: associative learning and reversal learning. Subjects were 16 members of a socially housed group of brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] apella). A general learning score was extracted from a principal component analysis on learning rate across 5 repetitions of each of the 2 tasks. The complexity of each monkey’s social life was characterised by their centrality in the grooming social network of the group. Generalised learning scores were predicted by age and network centrality, but in contrast to predictions, older monkeys and monkeys that were more central to the network made more errors. Future studies focusing on specific cognitive abilities that are theoretically linked to species-specific fitness and behavioural outcomes, rather than broad cognitive categories like learning, will be essential for clarifying the relationship between cognition and social complexity.

Unifying psychological and biological approaches to understanding animal cognition.

“…Berhane and Gazes (2020) found that older and more central individuals made more errors in the learning tasks. While this study does indeed show a relationship between cognition and sociality Berhane and Gazes (2020) caution that future work should test specific cognitive abilities that are theoretically predicted to be linked to species-specific ecology and fitness. In a related topic, social interactions between dogs and humans, Meyers-Manor and Botten (2020) test domestic dogs in the wild - that is, their owners’ homes.…”

“…In their subjects, socially house brown capuchin monkeys ( Cebus apella ), learning scores extracted from a principal components analysis were predicted by both age and social network centrality - just not in the predicted direction! Berhane and Gazes (2020) found that older and more central individuals made more errors in the learning tasks. While this study does indeed show a relationship between cognition and sociality Berhane and Gazes (2020) caution that future work should test specific cognitive abilities that are theoretically predicted to be linked to species-specific ecology and fitness.…”

“…Salena and Balshine (2020), Stanbrook, Jodoin, Culbert, Shultz, & Balshine (2020), and Berhane and Gazes (2020) test the relation between sociality and cognition. The former two papers take a comparative, among-species approach, while the latter examines variation among individual variation.…”

“…Therefore, not only did Stanbrook et al show that sociality in cichlids is related to task performance in some cases, but that the social arrangement during testing plays a critical role in performance. Berhane and Gazes (2020) ask if social relationships, as measured by centrality in a social network, are related to general learning, as measured via repeated testing on associative learning and reversal learning tasks. In their subjects, socially house brown capuchin monkeys ( Cebus apella ), learning scores extracted from a principal components analysis were predicted by both age and social network centrality - just not in the predicted direction!…”

Leveraging Social Learning to Enhance Captive Animal Care and Welfare

“…Lastly, and group dynamics notwithstanding, certain individuals are simply more likely to seek out and use social information than others, and certain individuals are likely better able to learn new skills than others, due to demographic, social, and personality factors (e.g., [175][176][177]-see [178] for a comprehensive discussion of this topic). Of course, within a captive setting, the physical environment may also constrain the transmission of social information, as discussed in Hopper [5].…”