DOI: 10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0r0
title: Data from: Aggressive interactions influence cognitive performance in Western Australian magpies

description: 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.
description: # **Aggressive interactions influence cognitive performance in Western
 Australian magpies**
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0r0](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0r0) Dataset contains the R script, data files (.csv) for all analyses and the supplementary material. ## Description of the data and file structure Dataset includes: * SN - Data for individuals with social network metrics * GS Stable - Data for individuals with stable group sizes * RPT COG - Cognition repeatability data * RPT AG ALL - Repeatability for agonistic data * RPT V ALL - Repeatability for vocal data ### Description of the data and file structure The SNP & Cognition Code is the main R code file use for analysis. Each data file (.csv) is labelled according to the analysis (SN for social network GLMM, GS stable for group size analysis and RPT for repeatability analysis). SN is the main analysis file containing scores and social network metrics for GLMMs. GS stable is the file for analysis of the subset of individuals with stable group sizes. RPT files are used for repeatability analysis. For example, RPT COG is the repeatability data for cognition scores, RPT AG ALL is the repeatability data for agnostic metrics and RPT V ALL is the repeatability data for vocal metrics. The additional word doc is the supplementary material containing supplementary figures, tables and analysis. Abbreviations in data files include: * id=individual identity * grp=group identity * score=associative learning score * colour=colour combination used * shade=shade of rewarded well (D=dark, L=light) * year=year tested (1 = 2020 and 2 = 2021) * season=season tested (B=breeding, NB=non-breeding) * site=testing site (U=UWA, G=Guildford) * mass=body mass (grams) * fe=foraging efficiency (amount of biomass caught in grams per minute foraging) * sex=sex of individual tested * sr=sex ratio in group (females to males) * grp.size=group size at time of testing * gscurr=group size at time of testing (2020-2021) * gs2016=average group size during 2016 * change=changing in group size from current group size (gscurr) to 2016 (gs2016) * neo=neophobia (time taken (seconds) to approach test apparatus from 1m away) * order=order tested in group * temp=average ambient temperature at time of testing (°C) * agd*=agonistic degree * agid*=agonistic in-degree * agod*=agonistic out-degree * ags*=agonistic strength * agis*=agonistic in-strength * agos*=agonistic out-strength * agcov*=agonistic coefficient of variation * vd*=vocal degree * vid*=vocal in-degree * vod*=vocal out-degree * vs*=vocal strength * vis*=vocal in-strength * vos*=vocal out-strength * vcov*=vocal coefficient of variation *node strength for each individual was divided by the highest node strength within that group, thus scaling node strength between 0 and 1 (where individuals with a score of 1 showed the most social connectedness in that group). ## Code/Software Custom R code used for analysis can be accessed here and is labelled "SNP & Cognition Code".