Social environments influence important ecological processes and can determine how
selection acts on traits. Cognitive abilities can shape these social environments and in turn,
affect individuals' fitness. To understand how cognitive abilities evolve, we need to
understand the complex interplay between an individual's cognitive abilities, the social
environment that they inhabit and the fitness consequences of these relationships. We
measured the associative learning ability of pheasant chicks, Phasianus colchicus, then …