Intelligence and cognitive abilities in general are elements deeply studied throughout the history of psychology, being something that has fascinated human beings since ancient times. Solving problems, knowing how to adapt to the environment and generating strategies and acting efficiently allow both humans and other species to survive and cope with environmental demands.
Intelligence has traditionally been considered something inherited, largely derived from genetics and partly from our development throughout pregnancy and childhood. But it is not until relatively few years ago that people began to talk about intelligence as something that appeared thanks to socialization. This is what the hypothesis of social intelligence or the social brain proposes
The hypothesis of social intelligence, developed and defended by Humphrey, proposes that intelligence and cognitive development is promoted by having to manage social relationships increasingly complex. This hypothesis arose from the author’s observation of the behavior of primates in captivity on a daily basis, reaching the conclusion that their social dynamics explained and promoted part of their cognitive development. We are not talking about the concept of social intelligence itself but about the emergence of intelligence as something social.
This hypothesis part of evolutionary psychology, and suggests that in fact the development of the cognitive abilities of the human species is due at least in part to the need to interact and communicate, requiring coordination to hunt and defend oneself from predators, or to prepare tools for these objectives. Also the establishment of hierarchies and relationships of power and submission, the expected behavior or role of each member or the learning of techniques and strategies became increasingly complex.
This theory leads us to reflect on how human beings have evolved and developed over the generations an intelligence much more based on communication and social interaction, developing increasingly complex and much more demanding societies (we go from small family tribes to villages, cities, kingdoms, empires or civilizations) that require increasing flexibility and cognitive capacity to manage them. A certain level of abstraction is required which little by little was strengthened and developed as those who owned or learned them had greater reproductive success.
The social brain
The social intelligence hypothesis has found some supporting evidence within biology. The most obvious example is that of Robin Dunbar who collected, developed and deepened Humphrey’s hypothesis.
Throughout his research, this author reflected the existence of a correlation between the size of the social group of membership and the encephalization quotient, with those animals with a greater quantity and quality of relationships having a greater brain volume (and possibly density and connectivity). This increase in volume is visible in the neocortex. However, The number of relationships we can manage at the same time is limited: This is why, in his theory, it is proposed that as social demand increases little by little our species has been developing a higher level of neural connections and abstraction capacities.
This has allowed us to survive. And the thing is that human beings lack major elements that allow us to survive on our own: we are not especially fast, nor are our senses excessively superior to those of other animals, nor do we have horns, claws or teeth that allow us defense or capacity. hunting. We also do not have strength or size comparable to those of potential predators. Evolutionarily, then, we have depended on our numbers and ability to manage ourselves socially to survive and subsequently our cognitive capacity (developed to a large extent by our relational capacity).
There is different evidence in favor of this hypothesis, largely coming from the observation of animal behavior and the performance of comparative studies and behavioral experiments with different animal species.
Recently The study and comparative analysis of the behavior of some animals has come to light: specifically with Australian magpies. Different magpies were made to face a series of behavioral tests in which they basically have to solve certain puzzles (looking at problem-solving ability) to get food. The experiments have been carried out with magpies of different ages and belonging to different flocks, with each of the four puzzles prepared in the tests being dedicated to evaluating a specific ability (learning of response-reward association and spatial memory between them) and manifesting that the performance of the animal was better the larger the flock to which they belonged, as well as among magpies that had been raised in said flocks since their birth.
Thus, it is proposed that living in large groups links and promotes greater cognitive performance, which in turn facilitates survival. In conclusion, those birds that live in large flocks tend to have higher performance in different tests proposed by researchers. These same conclusions have been reflected in studies carried out with crows, dolphins and different species of primates.
In addition to the evidence found in animals, it is useful to think about our own development: the front part of the brain is one of the largest and one that takes the longest to develop, and is deeply linked to behavioral control and the management of social behavior (especially the prefrontal region). We must also highlight that the discovery of mirror neurons by Rizzolatti as an element that allows us to understand and put ourselves in the shoes of others is linked to this fact: by living in society, our behavior and management of relationships becomes more adaptive. the evolution of structures linked to capturing what our fellow human beings feel or refer. And this makes us, as a social species, more adaptive.
