The Experts below are selected from a list of 7497 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
R I M Dunbar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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do online Social media cut through the constraints that limit the size of offline Social networks
Royal Society Open Science, 2016Co-Authors: R I M DunbarAbstract:The Social Brain Hypothesis has suggested that natural Social network sizes may have a characteristic size in humans. This is determined in part by cognitive constraints and in part by the time costs of servicing relationships. Online Social networking offers the potential to break through the glass ceiling imposed by at least the second of these, potentially enabling us to maintain much larger Social networks. This is tested using two separate UK surveys, each randomly stratified by age, gender and regional population size. The data show that the size and range of online egocentric Social networks, indexed as the number of Facebook friends, is similar to that of offline face-to-face networks. For one sample, respondents also specified the number of individuals in the inner layers of their network (formally identified as support clique and sympathy group), and these were also similar in size to those observed in offline networks. This suggests that, as originally proposed by the Social Brain Hypothesis, there is a cognitive constraint on the size of Social networks that even the communication advantages of online media are unable to overcome. In practical terms, it may reflect the fact that real (as opposed to casual) relationships require at least occasional face-to-face interaction to maintain them.
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thinking big how the evolution of Social life shaped the human mind
2014Co-Authors: Clive Gamble, J A J Gowlett, R I M DunbarAbstract:When and how did the Brains of our hominin ancestors become human minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in ever-larger Social groups, and to maintain Social relations over ever-greater distances the ability to think big that drove the enlargement of the human Brain and the development of the human mind. This Social Brain Hypothesis, put forward by evolutionary psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire for the lengthening of the Social day. Ultimately, the Social worlds we inhabit today can be traced back to our Stone Age ancestors.
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the Social Brain and the shape of the palaeolithic
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2011Co-Authors: Clive Gamble, J A J Gowlett, R I M DunbarAbstract:It is often the case in interdisciplinary accounts of human evolution that archaeological data are either ignored or treated superficially. This article sets out to redress this position by using archaeological evidence from the last 2.5 million years to test the Social Brain Hypothesis (SBH) – that our Social lives drove encephalization. To do this we construct a map of our evolving Social complexity that concentrates on two resources – materials and emotions – that lie at the basis of all Social interaction. In particular, novel cultural and biological mechanisms are seen as evolutionary responses to problems of cognitive load arising from the need to integrate more individuals and sub-units into the larger communities predicted by the SBH. The Palaeolithic evidence for the amplification of these twin resources into novel Social forms is then evaluated. Here the SBH is used to differentiate three temporal movements (2.6–1.6 Ma, 1.5–0.4 Ma and 300–25 ka) and their varied evolutionary responses are described in detail. Attention is drawn to the second movement where there is an apparent disconnect between a rise in encephalization and a stasis in material culture. This disconnect is used to discuss the co-evolutionary relationship that existed between materials and emotions to solve cognitive problems but which, at different times, amplified one resource rather than the other. We conclude that the shape of the Palaeolithic is best conceived as a gradient of change rather than a set of step-like revolutions in society and culture
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discrete hierarchical organization of Social group sizes
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2005Co-Authors: Weixing Zhou, Didier Sornette, Russell A Hill, R I M DunbarAbstract:The ‘Social Brain Hypothesis’ for the evolution of large Brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and Social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on Social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that Social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3–5, 9–15, 30–45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of Social nearness by human Brains.
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discrete hierarchical organization of Social group sizes
arXiv: Statistical Mechanics, 2004Co-Authors: Weixing Zhou, Didier Sornette, Russell A Hill, R I M DunbarAbstract:The ``Social Brain Hypothesis'' for the evolution of large Brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and Social group sizes. Extrapolation of these findings to modern humans indicated that the equivalent group size for our species should be approximately 150 (essentially the number of people known personally as individuals). Here, we combine data on human grouping in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify with high statistical confidence a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to 3: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3, 9, 27,... Such discrete scale invariance (DSI) could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behavior in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of Social nearness by human Brains.
Elisabeth Sulger - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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distributed cognition and Social Brains reductions in mushroom body investment accompanied the origins of Sociality in wasps hymenoptera vespidae
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015Co-Authors: Sean Odonnell, Susan J. Bulova, Paulina Khodak, Skye Miller, Sara Deleon, Elisabeth SulgerAbstract:The Social Brain Hypothesis assumes the evolution of Social behaviour changes animals' ecological environments, and predicts evolutionary shifts in Social structure will be associated with changes ...
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Distributed cognition and Social Brains: Reductions in mushroom body investment accompanied the origins of Sociality in wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015Co-Authors: Sean O’donnell, Susan J. Bulova, Paulina Khodak, Skye Miller, Sara Deleon, Elisabeth SulgerAbstract:The Social Brain Hypothesis assumes the evolution of Social behaviour changes animals' ecological environments, and predicts evolutionary shifts in Social structure will be associated with changes in Brain investment. Most Social Brain models to date assume Social behaviour imposes additional cognitive challenges to animals, favouring the evolution of increased Brain investment. Here, we present a modification of Social Brain models, which we term the distributed cognition Hypothesis. Distributed cognition models assume group members can rely on Social communication instead of individual cognition; these models predict reduced Brain investment in Social species. To test this Hypothesis, we compared Brain investment among 29 species of wasps (Vespidae family), including solitary species and Social species with a wide range of Social attributes (i.e. differences in colony size, mode of colony founding and degree of queen/worker caste differentiation). We compared species means of relative size of mushroom body (MB) calyces and the antennal to optic lobe ratio, as measures of Brain investment in central processing and peripheral sensory processing, respectively. In support of distributed cognition predictions, and in contrast to patterns seen among vertebrates, MB investment decreased from solitary to Social species. Among Social species, differences in colony founding, colony size and caste differentiation were not associated with Brain investment differences. Peripheral lobe investment did not covary with Social structure. These patterns suggest the strongest changes in Brain investment-a reduction in central processing Brain regions-accompanied the evolutionary origins of euSociality in Vespidae.
Sara Deleon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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distributed cognition and Social Brains reductions in mushroom body investment accompanied the origins of Sociality in wasps hymenoptera vespidae
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015Co-Authors: Sean Odonnell, Susan J. Bulova, Paulina Khodak, Skye Miller, Sara Deleon, Elisabeth SulgerAbstract:The Social Brain Hypothesis assumes the evolution of Social behaviour changes animals' ecological environments, and predicts evolutionary shifts in Social structure will be associated with changes ...
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Distributed cognition and Social Brains: Reductions in mushroom body investment accompanied the origins of Sociality in wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015Co-Authors: Sean O’donnell, Susan J. Bulova, Paulina Khodak, Skye Miller, Sara Deleon, Elisabeth SulgerAbstract:The Social Brain Hypothesis assumes the evolution of Social behaviour changes animals' ecological environments, and predicts evolutionary shifts in Social structure will be associated with changes in Brain investment. Most Social Brain models to date assume Social behaviour imposes additional cognitive challenges to animals, favouring the evolution of increased Brain investment. Here, we present a modification of Social Brain models, which we term the distributed cognition Hypothesis. Distributed cognition models assume group members can rely on Social communication instead of individual cognition; these models predict reduced Brain investment in Social species. To test this Hypothesis, we compared Brain investment among 29 species of wasps (Vespidae family), including solitary species and Social species with a wide range of Social attributes (i.e. differences in colony size, mode of colony founding and degree of queen/worker caste differentiation). We compared species means of relative size of mushroom body (MB) calyces and the antennal to optic lobe ratio, as measures of Brain investment in central processing and peripheral sensory processing, respectively. In support of distributed cognition predictions, and in contrast to patterns seen among vertebrates, MB investment decreased from solitary to Social species. Among Social species, differences in colony founding, colony size and caste differentiation were not associated with Brain investment differences. Peripheral lobe investment did not covary with Social structure. These patterns suggest the strongest changes in Brain investment-a reduction in central processing Brain regions-accompanied the evolutionary origins of euSociality in Vespidae.
Robin I. M. Dunbar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The Social Brain Psychological Underpinnings and Implications for the Structure of Organizations
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2014Co-Authors: Robin I. M. DunbarAbstract:The Social-Brain Hypothesis refers to a quantitative relationship between Social-group size and neocortex volume in monkeys and apes. This relationship predicts a group size of approximately 150 for humans, which turns out to be the typical size of both Social communities in small-scale societies and personal Social networks in the modern world. This constraint on the size of Social groups is partly cognitive and partly temporal. It gives rise to a layered structure in primate and human Social groups that, in humans, reflects both emotional closeness in relationships and the frequency of contact. These findings have potentially important implications for the way in which human organizations are structured.
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primate cognition from what now to what if
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2003Co-Authors: Louise Barrett, Peter Henzi, Robin I. M. DunbarAbstract:The 'Social Brain' Hypothesis has had a major impact on the study of comparative cognition. However, despite a strong sense, gained from both experimental and observational work, that monkeys and apes differ from each other, we are still no closer to understanding exactly how they differ. We hypothesize that the dispersed Social systems characteristic of ape societies explains why monkeys and apes should differ cognitively. The increased cognitive control and analogical reasoning ability needed to cope with life in dispersed societies also suggests a possible route for human cognitive evolution. This Hypothesis is supported by behavioural and neurobiological data, but we need more of both if we are to fully understand how our primate cousins see the world.
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The Social Brain: Mind, Language, and Society in Evolutionary Perspective
Annual Review of Anthropology, 2003Co-Authors: Robin I. M. DunbarAbstract:▪ Abstract The Social Brain (or Machiavellian Intelligence) Hypothesis was proposed to explain primates' unusually large Brains: It argues that the cognitive demands of living in complexly bonded Social groups selected for increases in executive Brain (principally neocortex). The evidence for this and alternative hypotheses is reviewed. Although there remain difficulties of interpretation, the bulk of the evidence comes down in favor of the Social Brain Hypothesis. The extent to which the cognitive demands of bonding large intensely Social groups involve aspects of Social cognition, such as theory of mind, is explored. These findings are then related to the evolution of Social group size, language, and culture within the hominid lineage.
Redouan Bshary - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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population densities predict foreBrain size variation in the cleaner fish labroides dimidiatus
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2019Co-Authors: Zegni Triki, Elena Levorato, Justin Marshall, W Mcneely, Redouan BsharyAbstract:The ‘Social Brain Hypothesis' proposes a causal link between Social complexity and either Brain size or the size of key Brain parts known to be involved in cognitive processing and decision-making....
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Relative Brain and Brain Part Sizes Provide Only Limited Evidence that Machiavellian Behaviour in Cleaner Wrasse Is Cognitively Demanding
PLOS ONE, 2015Co-Authors: Dominika Chojnacka, Karin Isler, Jaroslaw J. Barski, Redouan BsharyAbstract:It is currently widely accepted that the complexity of a species’ Social life is a major determinant of its Brain complexity, as predicted by the Social Brain Hypothesis. However, it remains a challenge to explain what Social complexity exactly is and what the best corresponding measures of Brain anatomy are. Absolute and relative size of the Brain and of the neocortex have often been used as a proxy to predict cognitive performance. Here, we apply the logic of the Social Brain Hypothesis to marine cleaning mutualism involving the genus Labroides. These wrasses remove ectoparasites from ‘client’ reef fish. Conflict occurs as wrasse prefer client mucus over ectoparasites, where mucus feeding constitutes cheating. As a result of this conflict, cleaner wrasse show remarkable Machiavellian-like behaviour. Using own data as well as available data from the literature, we investigated whether the general Brain anatomy of Labroides provides any indication that their Machiavellian behaviour is associated with a more complex Brain. Neither data set provided evidence for an increased encephalisation index compared to other wrasse species. Published data on relative sizes of Brain parts in 25 species of the order Perciformes suggests that only the diencephalon is relatively enlarged in Labroides dimidiatus. This part contains various nuclei of the Social decision making network. In conclusion, gross Brain anatomy yields little evidence for the Hypothesis that strategic behaviour in cleaning selects for larger Brains, while future research should focus on more detailed aspects like the sizes of specific nuclei as well as their cryoarchitectonic structure and connectivity.