BY: D. GAGE JORDAN
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student
Mississippi State University
“Within a general framework of stimulus and response (e.g., social cognition), we have a subtest of processes concerned with social stimuli, social decisions, and social responses. This position is seldom argued for explicitly and yet it is uncritically adopted very often.” – Di Paolo & De Jaegher (2012, p. 5)
What do we know so far? Overview: There is convincing evidence of the relationship between social group size and overall brain size, especially in primates. However, is the evidence similar across all species (e.g., humans as well)? Background: Humans have large brains and are one of the very few specious capable of “higher order thought” (e.g., holding and manipulating information in one’s mind, also known as working memory). In addition, humans also have intricate social networks (think about our vast online presence). By examining evidence related to primates, it is possible that the development of complex cognitive skills were needed to better establish corresponding complex social relationships. Answer: There is indeed evidence that the complex relationship between social group size and brain size is even more complex. For example, brain size of both carnivores and their prey tend to covary (i.e., vary together) over time (Holekamp, 2006) and that specific, neural circuits (in humans) are activated in response to specific elements of social interaction (e.g., conflict; Di Paolo & De Jaegher, 2012, Van der Heide et al., 2014). Conclusions: Primates, humans, and even hyenas (cf. Holekamp, 2006) are complex in their social nature, but there are nuanced differences between species. Future research can benefit from specifically examining the interactions between areas of the human brain (i.e., cortical and subcortical), and well as the brain’s interaction with the environment. | Frequent Phrases: Social cognition = information processing in a setting; often considered a linear process from processing social information and subsequently taking action (Di Paolo & De Jaegher, 2012). Social intelligence hypothesis = the prediction that non-primate mammals living in large, intricate societies should show greater abilities in social cognition, as well as larger frontal brain areas associated with such complex, social behavior (Holekamp, 2006). Dunbar’s number = measures the number of individuals a person can maintain in their active social circle (averages approximately 150 people for most individuals; Von der Heide et al., 2014). Social Network Index (SNI; Cohen et al., 1997) = measures social network size (SNS) as the number of individuals a person has had regulate contact with at least once every 2 weeks. |