Social Interactions Are Related to Cognitive Development in Western Australian Magpie Fledglings

Social interactions during development can have a significant and lasting impact on adult phenotypes and fitness. Indeed, a growing body of evidence suggests the early social environment plays an important role in cognitive development. However, existing studies largely focus on the impact of social group size, which does not necessarily capture all the cognitive demands associated with group living. Social network analysis can provide detailed insight into variation in social interactions between group members, and thus the information-processing challenges associated with group living at the individual level. Here, we explore whether social interactions during development are related to cognitive performance in juvenile Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis). Specifically, we investigated the relationship between social network measures of connectedness (physical proximity, play, agonistic and vocal interactions) and individual cognitive performance, tested at three developmentally sensitive time points during the first year of life. We found that social measures were related to cognitive performance: individuals in larger groups solve an associative learning task in fewer trials at 300 days post-fledging. Additionally, individuals that responded to vocalisations from more conspecifics and those that received aggressive interactions from more conspecifics perform better at an associative learning task at 300 days post-fledging. Our study highlights the value of considering individual-based social network measures, which capture the differences in specific social connections between individuals within groups, when investigating the relationship between the social environment and cognitive development.