Social Cognition

Social cognition refers to all mental processes underlying relationships among individuals in the same social system. Social cognition shapes social behavior and is shaped by it. Most of the evolutionary studies cited here are encompassed theoretically by the Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis and the Social Brain Hypothesis. Both rest on the basic premise that the evolution of cognition in hominins and other primates has been driven primarily or entirely by social complexity and its concomitant behavior. The Social Brain Hypothesis gives more attention to the physical structure of the brain, especially the neocortex and its subdivisions. Proponents of the Embodied Social Brain Hypothesis argue for emphasis on brain–body interaction and more attention to non-frontal brain structures such as the parietal lobes. Baboon examples played a role in the development of all three hypotheses. The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis, which emphasizes behavioral flexibility and social learning, is directed toward Homo; however, both phenomena have become increasingly apparent in baboon behavior. Regardless of theoretical approach, the study of social cognition encompasses a wide variety of behavioral patterns that may be analogous between baboons and early hominins. These include tactical deception, cooperation, social facilitation, ownership, emotion, personality, and the acquisition and use of social information. The complexity of baboon societies and social relations makes the genus especially relevant to this subject.