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Machiavellian intelligence
Author(s) -
Byrne Richard W.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
evolutionary anthropology: issues, news, and reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1520-6505
pISSN - 1060-1538
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1996)5:5<172::aid-evan6>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - cognition , competition (biology) , social complexity , human intelligence , psychology , adaptation (eye) , social intelligence , selection (genetic algorithm) , cognitive psychology , cognitive science , social psychology , biology , computer science , sociology , developmental psychology , ecology , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , social science
The hypothesis that intelligence is an adaptation to deal with the complexity of living in semi‐permanent groups of conspecifics, a situation that involves the potentially tricky balance of competition and cooperation with the same individuals, has been influential in recent theorizing about human mental evolution. It is important to distinguish among distinct versions of this general idea, for they predict different cognitive consequences and apply to different species of animal. Empirical support is strong in primates for links between (i) social complexity based on evolved tactics that require a good memory for socially relevant information, (ii) neocortical enlargement, and (iii) size of social groupings. However, the evolution of computational thought and the ability to understand other individuals' intentions are not well explained as products of selection for Machiavellian intelligence. Quite different explanations may therefore be required for increases in intelligence that occurred at different times in human ancestry.