The social intelligence hypothesis proposes that the demands of social life shape the evolution of cognition, but different aspects of social interactions may be relevant. To test how competitive versus cooperative interactions shape social cognition, we assessed multiple metrics of social cognition in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus, n = 40) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta, n = 60). These closely related species have similar social organization, but diverge in social styles: Barbary macaques are more tolerant, whereas rhesus macaques are more despotic. Monkeys completed a battery of experimental tasks measuring gaze-following (co-orienting with others); knowledge attribution (representing others’ underlying knowledge states); goal attribution (interpreting others’ actions in terms of underlying intentional goals); and temperament (boldness in response to exploring novelty). While the rhesus macaques were more willing to approach a novel object than Barbary macaques, both species showed similar success in each social task. However, individual Barbary macaques were more likely to show greater overall proficiency across all social measures combined than were individual rhesus monkeys. Overall, these results indicate that similar social cognitive capacities may evolve in distinct social contexts, and suggest that socio-cognitive skills may be relevant both for competitive and cooperative interactions in primates.

Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2fqz61319

Description of the data and file structure

This dataset consists of five files (.xlsx format) with the data from this study along with associated R analysis scripts. There is a data file for each individual task the monkeys completed (Gaze, Goal Attribution, Knowledge Attribution, and Temperament) as well as a final file used for analyses of performance across multiple tasks (Cross-Task Relationships).

Each task data file includes subject identification; subject characteristics (species, sex, age); relevant experimental variables (trial number, condition); and the response variable of interest (e.g., if monkeys looked up for the Gaze Task, looking time in seconds for Goal Attribution and Knowledge Attribution Tasks; whether they approached for the Temperament Task). Each file includes a key tab where all variables reported in the main data tab are defined (also appended below).

NAs in these files indicate that monkeys either did not have a relevant measure (e.g., there is no latency to approach if monkeys did not approach in the Temperament Task), or did not participate in the relevant task (e.g., in the Cross-Task Relationships), as noted for each individual variable.

Files and variables

Files

Schwob_etal_Macaque_Gaze_Task.xlsx: trial data for gaze task
Schwob_etal_Macaque_Knowledge_Attribution_Task.xlsx: trial data for knowledge attribution task
Schwob_etal_Macaque_Goal_Attribution_Task.xlsx: trial data for goal attribution task
Schwob_etal_Macaque_Temperament_Task.xlsx: trial data for temperament task
Schwob_etal_Macaque_Cross-Task_Relationships.xlsx: combined cognitive performance data for each monkey

Variables: Gaze Task

*Variable*	*Description*
Subject	Code for each monkey’s unique identity
Species	Monkey’s species; Barbary or rhesus macaque
Sex	Monkey’s sex; all monkeys in this study were male
Age	Age at time of study in years
Trial_Num	Trial number (1-4); monkeys had to complete at least one trial set (e.g., trials 1 and 2) to be included in the study, and some did not complete the second set (trials 3 and 4)
Condition	Trial condition (Up = test, experimenter looked up; Down = control, experimenter looked down)
Look_YN	Whether the monkey looked up on that trial (1 = yes, 0 = no)

Variables: Knowledge Attribution Task

*Variable*	*Description*
Subject	Code for each monkey’s unique identity
Species	Monkey’s species; Barbary or rhesus macaque
Sex	Monkey’s sex; all monkeys in this study were male
Age	Age at time of study in years
Trial_Num	Trial number (1-4); monkeys had to complete all four trials to be included in the study
Condition	Trial condition (Habituation 1 = habituation to the reaching action; Habituation 2 = habituation to the fruit; Test Unexpected = actor reached for the box where she did not see the fruit go; Test Expected = actor reached for the box where she did see the fruit go)
Looking_Time	Total duration of looking out of a total 10 seconds

Variables: Goal Attribution Task

*Variable*	*Description*
Subject	Code for each monkey’s unique identity
Species	Monkey’s species; Barbary or rhesus macaque
Sex	Monkey’s sex; all monkeys in this study were male
Age	Age at time of study in years
Trial_Num	Trial number (1-4); monkeys had to complete all four trials to be included in the study
Condition	Trial condition (Habituation 1 = habituation to the first set of objects; Test Unexpected = actor reached for different object than in the matched habituation trial; Habituation 2 = habituation to the second set of objects; Test Expected = actor reached for same object as in the matched habituation trial)
Looking_Time	Total duration of looking out of a total 10 seconds

Variables: Temperament Task

*Variable*	*Description*
Subject	Code for each monkey’s unique identity
Species	Monkey’s species; Barbary or rhesus macaque
Sex	Monkey’s sex; all monkeys in this study were male
Age	Age at time of study in years
Box_Appr_YN	Whether the monkey approached the food box during the task (1 = yes, 0 = no)
Box_Appr_Lat	Latency to approach the food box out of a total 30 seconds (blank / NAs indicate the monkey did not approach)
NovelObject_Appr_YN	Whether the monkey approached the novel object (truck) during the task (1 = yes, 0 = no)
NovelObject_Appr_Lat	Latency to approach the novel object (truck) out of a total 30 seconds (blank / NAs indicate the monkey did not approach)

Variables: Cross-Task Relationships

*Variable*	*Description*
Subject	Code for each monkey’s unique identity
Species	Monkey’s species; Barbary or rhesus macaque
Sex	Monkey’s sex; all monkeys in this study were male
Age	Age at time of study in years
Gaze_Score	Overall gaze task score for that monkey (Test trial looks - Control trial looks); positive scores indicate more looking up on test trials than control trials
Knowledge_Score	Overall knowledge task score for that monkey (Unexpected looking time - Expected looking time); positive scores indicate more looking on unexpected than expected test trials; blank / NAs indicates that the monkey did not complete this task
Goals_Score	Overall goals task score for that monkey ([Unexpected looking – Habituation 1 looking] – [Expected looking – Habituation 2 looking]); positive scores indicate more looking on unexpected than expected test trials, but here the score also accounts for matched habituation trial looking times; blank / NAs indicates that the monkey did not complete this task
Box_Appr_YN	Whether the monkey approached the food box in the temperament task (1 = yes, 0 = no); blank / NAs indicate the monkey did not complete this task
NovelObject_Appr_YN	Whether the monkey approached the novel object (truck) in the temperament task (1 = yes, 0 = no); blank / NAs indicate the monkey did not complete this task

Code/software

For these datasets, there are corresponding R analysis scripts. The analysis script files are:

SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque-gaze-task.R: Trial-by-trial analyses of the gaze task
SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque-knowledge-task.R: Trial-by-trial analyses of the knowledge attribution task
SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque-goal-task.R: Trial-by-trial analyses of the goal attribution task
SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque-temperament-task.R: Analyses of the temperament task
SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque- temperament_cognition.R: Analyses relating temperament performance to social cognitive performance
SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque-pca-correlations.R: Analyses relating different social cognitive performance metrics
SCRIPT-Schwob-etal-Macaque-figures.R: generation of relevant figures from these data files

Data from: Tolerant and despotic macaques show divergent temperament but similar theory of mind

Data files

Abstract

Description of the data and file structure

Files and variables

Variables: Gaze Task

Variables: Knowledge Attribution Task

Variables: Goal Attribution Task

Variables: Temperament Task

Variables: Cross-Task Relationships

Code/software

Data from: Tolerant and despotic macaques show divergent temperament but similar theory of mind

Data files

Abstract

README: Tolerant and despotic macaques show divergent temperament but similar theory of mind

Description of the data and file structure

Files and variables

Variables: Gaze Task

Variables: Knowledge Attribution Task

Variables: Goal Attribution Task

Variables: Temperament Task

Variables: Cross-Task Relationships

Code/software