ArticleNature2018
Cognitive performance is linked to group size and affects fitness in Australian magpies.
Article in Nature, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 112 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
112 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- How does cognition determine an individual's fitness? A systematic review of the links between cognition, behaviour and fitness in non-human animals.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Pooled it
- What do zebra finches learn besides singing? Systematic mapping of the literature and presentation of an efficient associative learning test.Animal cognition · 2023Pooled it
- The repeatability of cognitive performance: a meta-analysis.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Pooled it
- Sexual Selection as a Driver of Shared Neural and Reproductive Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Repeatedly unreliable, and unreliably repeatable: the trials-to-criterion fallacy.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- First Evidence of Diverse Inhibitory Control Abilities in Pre- and Post-Metamorphic Salamanders.Integrative zoology · 2026Article
- Neuroactive Pollution Disrupts Cognition in Fish by Causing Sex-Specific Effects on Spatial Learning.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Differential captivity and experiential conditions and its impact on the behaviour and cognition of Picasso triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus).Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Unpacking response Inhibition in animals - part 2: an empirical test.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Unpacking response inhibition in animals - part 1: a conceptual framework.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Linking social attention to reproductive state and future reproduction in female monkeys.Behavioral ecology and sociobiology · 2026Article
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- Inhibitory control tests in non-human animals: validity, reliability, and perspectives.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Allied male dolphins use synchronous displays to strengthen social bonds in a cooperative context.Movement ecology · 2025Article
- No Sex-Differences in Learning Trap-Gap Problems in Zebra Finches.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Social Interactions Are Related to Cognitive Development in Western Australian Magpie Fledglings.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Rethinking raptors: caracaras as a model for avian cognition in the wild.Animal cognition · 2025Review
- Collective decision-making under predator threat is faster in guppy shoals selected for larger telencephalon size.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Investigating the relationship between heat-mediated cognitive impairment and antipredator response in a wild bird.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
52 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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4 authors.
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Abstract
The social intelligence hypothesis states that the demands of social life drive cognitive evolution. This idea receives support from comparative studies that link variation in group size or mating systems with cognitive and neuroanatomical differences across species, but findings are contradictory and contentious. To understand the cognitive consequences of sociality, it is also important to investigate social variation within species. Here we show that in wild, cooperatively breeding Australian magpies, individuals that live in large groups show increased cognitive performance, which is linked to increased reproductive success. Individual performance was highly correlated across four cognitive tasks, indicating a 'general intelligence factor' that underlies cognitive performance. Repeated cognitive testing of juveniles at different ages showed that the correlation between group size and cognition emerged in early life, suggesting that living in larger groups promotes cognitive development. Furthermore, we found a positive association between the task performance of females and three indicators of reproductive success, thus identifying a selective benefit of greater cognitive performance. Together, these results provide intraspecific evidence that sociality can shape cognitive development and evolution.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.