Pinyon jays use transitive inference to predict social dominance. Paz-Y-Miño C, G., Bond, A. B, Kamil, A. C, & Balda, R. P Nature, 430(7001):778-81, 2004. doi abstract bibtex Living in large, stable social groups is often considered to favour the evolution of enhanced cognitive abilities, such as recognizing group members, tracking their social status and inferring relationships among them. An individual's place in the social order can be learned through direct interactions with others, but conflicts can be time-consuming and even injurious. Because the number of possible pairwise interactions increases rapidly with group size, members of large social groups will benefit if they can make judgments about relationships on the basis of indirect evidence. Transitive reasoning should therefore be particularly important for social individuals, allowing assessment of relationships from observations of interactions among others. Although a variety of studies have suggested that transitive inference may be used in social settings, the phenomenon has not been demonstrated under controlled conditions in animals. Here we show that highly social pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) draw sophisticated inferences about their own dominance status relative to that of strangers that they have observed interacting with known individuals. These results directly demonstrate that animals use transitive inference in social settings and imply that such cognitive capabilities are widespread among social species.
@Article{Paz-Y-Mino2004,
author = {Guillermo {Paz-Y-Mi{\~n}o C} and Alan B Bond and Alan C Kamil and Russell P Balda},
journal = {Nature},
title = {Pinyon jays use transitive inference to predict social dominance.},
year = {2004},
number = {7001},
pages = {778-81},
volume = {430},
abstract = {Living in large, stable social groups is often considered to favour
the evolution of enhanced cognitive abilities, such as recognizing
group members, tracking their social status and inferring relationships
among them. An individual's place in the social order can be learned
through direct interactions with others, but conflicts can be time-consuming
and even injurious. Because the number of possible pairwise interactions
increases rapidly with group size, members of large social groups
will benefit if they can make judgments about relationships on the
basis of indirect evidence. Transitive reasoning should therefore
be particularly important for social individuals, allowing assessment
of relationships from observations of interactions among others.
Although a variety of studies have suggested that transitive inference
may be used in social settings, the phenomenon has not been demonstrated
under controlled conditions in animals. Here we show that highly
social pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) draw sophisticated
inferences about their own dominance status relative to that of strangers
that they have observed interacting with known individuals. These
results directly demonstrate that animals use transitive inference
in social settings and imply that such cognitive capabilities are
widespread among social species.},
doi = {10.1038/nature02723},
keywords = {Animals, Cognition, Group Structure, Male, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Social Dominance, Songbirds, 15306792},
}