Data from: Aggressive interactions influence cognitive performance in Western Australian magpies

Extensive research has investigated the relationship between the social environment and cognition, suggesting that social complexity may drive cognitive evolution and development. However, evidence for this relationship remains equivocal. Group size is often used as a measure of social complexity, but this may not capture intraspecific variation in social interactions. Social network analysis can provide insight into the cognitively demanding challenges associated with group-living at the individual-level. Here, we use social networks to investigate whether the cognitive performance of wild Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis) is related to group size and individual social connectedness. We quantified social connectedness using four interaction types: proximity, affiliative, agonistic, and vocal. Consistent with previous research on this species, individuals in larger groups performed better on an associative learning task. However, social network position was also related to cognitive performance. Individuals receiving aggressive interactions performed better, while those involved in aggressive interactions with more group members performed worse. Overall, this suggests that cognitive performance is related to specific types of social interaction. The findings from this study highlight the value of considering fine-grained metrics of sociality that capture the challenges associated with social life when testing the relationship between the social environment and cognition.

已有大量研究探讨了社会环境与认知能力之间的关联，提出社会复杂性或可推动认知的演化与发展。但目前关于该关联的实证证据尚无定论。群体规模常被用作社会复杂性的衡量指标，但该指标或无法捕捉社会互动中的种内变异。社会网络分析（Social Network Analysis）可从个体层面切入，解析群居生活中对认知能力有较高要求的各类挑战。本研究借助社会网络分析，探究野生西澳喜鹊（*Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis*）的认知表现与群体规模及个体社会联结程度之间的关联。本研究通过四类社会互动类型量化社会联结程度：近距离接触、亲和互动、对抗互动与发声互动。与该物种既往研究结果一致，群体规模更大的个体在联想学习任务（Associative Learning Task）中的表现更优。但社会网络位置同样与认知表现存在关联：接受攻击互动的个体表现更优，而与更多同伴发生对抗互动的个体表现则更差。综合来看，本研究结果表明认知表现与特定类型的社会互动存在关联。本研究结果凸显了在检验社会环境与认知能力之间的关联时，采用能够捕捉社会生活挑战的精细社会性度量指标的重要价值。