ABSTRACT
Social complexity and the evolution of cognition (the “social intelligence hypothesis”), language, and culture are likely to be closely linked. To achieve and maintain a complex social system, individuals must employ numerous cognitive and physiological control mechanisms in order to develop and nurture social relationships. However, in order to interact with other individuals and to learn from them it is necessary to pay attention to them to gain information. The processes of attention towards other group members and means of learning by observation in human and nonhuman animals are the focus of this chapter.
