Why Machiavellian intelligence may not be Machiavellian

Strum, Shirley C.; Förster, Deborah; Hutchins, Edwin

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511525636.004

Cited by 41 publications

(33 citation statements)

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“…It certainly seems to work for humans, even when faced with digital avatars (representations of people in virtual reality): Balienson & Yee (in press) have shown that human subjects find imitating avatars more persuasive and likeable than non-imitating ones, even though they could not explicitly detect the imitation (see also Chartrand & Bargh 1999). This work, plus Paukner et al's (2004) study, demonstrate that intentional attunement can be studied empirically, highlighting the link between Gallese's theory of embodied simulation and Johnson's (2001) distributed approach (see also Strum et al 1997). Understanding how, when and why animals co-ordinate their behaviour may therefore reveal as much about underlying cognitive and neurobiological processes as more conventional cognitive experiments (see also Noë in press for a similar argument concerning experimental work on cooperation).…”

Section: Embodied Simulationmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…Or, as Gigerenzer (1997) put it, part of the complexity of the social environment is its 'perceived complexity', which is not a feature of the environment per se. Such perceived complexity cannot explain why a certain level of social intelligence is present in a species because 'the perceived complexity is itself dependent on, or even part of, social intelligence' (see also Strum et al 1997).…”

Section: Mundane Not Machiavellian Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

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The social nature of primate cognition

2005

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The hypothesis that the enlarged brain size of the primates was selected for by social, rather than purely ecological, factors has been strongly influential in studies of primate cognition and behaviour over the past two decades. However, the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis, also known as the social brain hypothesis, tends to emphasize certain traits and behaviours, like exploitation and deception, at the expense of others, such as tolerance and behavioural coordination, and therefore presents only one view of how social life may shape cognition. This review outlines work from other relevant disciplines, including evolutionary economics, cognitive science and neurophysiology, to illustrate how these can be used to build a more general theoretical framework, incorporating notions of embodied and distributed cognition, in which to situate questions concerning the evolution of primate social cognition.

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Section: Embodied Simulationmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Mundane Not Machiavellian Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

The social nature of primate cognition

2005

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“…Cooperation – Pro‐social or mutually beneficial behavioural coordination (Strum et al. 1997; Boesch & Boesch‐Achermann 2000; Barret & Henzi 2005; Connor 2007; Dunbar & Schultz 2007; Emery et al.…”

Section: Physicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intelligence in Corvids and Apes: A Case of Convergent Evolution?

2009

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Intelligence is suggested to have evolved in primates in response to complexities in the environment faced by their ancestors. Corvids, a large‐brained group of birds, have been suggested to have undergone a convergent evolution of intelligence [Emery & Clayton (2004) Science, Vol. 306, pp. 1903–1907]. Here we review evidence for the proposal from both ultimate and proximate perspectives. While we show that many of the proposed hypotheses for the evolutionary origin of great ape intelligence also apply to corvids, further study is needed to reveal the selective pressures that resulted in the evolution of intelligent behaviour in both corvids and apes. For comparative proximate analyses we emphasize the need to be explicit about the level of analysis to reveal the type of convergence that has taken place. Although there is evidence that corvids and apes solve social and physical problems with similar speed and flexibility, there is a great deal more to be learned about the representations and algorithms underpinning these computations in both groups. We discuss recent comparative work that has addressed proximate questions at this level, and suggest directions for future research.

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“…The preventive male was also almost significantly more likely to chase his female when their client darted off after a jolt, while the other male often followed the client to provide tactile stimulation (Fisher test: n = 12; p = 0.053; Table 22.1). This observation of flexibility of both males and females is important as it was the careful description of individual-specific strategies in primates that eventually led to a cognitive, rather than genetic, approach towards behaviour (Strum et al, 1998). …”

Section: Cognitive Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%