Apes, Monkeys, Children, and the Growth of Mind

Apes, Monkeys, Children, and the Growth of Mind

Author: Juan Carlos Gómez

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 9780674037793

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What can the study of young monkeys and apes tell us about the minds of young humans? In this fascinating introduction to the study of primate minds, Juan Carlos Gomez identifies evolutionary resemblances--and differences--between human children and other primates. He argues that primate minds are best understood not as fixed collections of specialized cognitive capacities, but more dynamically, as a range of abilities that can surpass their original adaptations. In a lively overview of a distinguished body of cognitive developmental research among nonhuman primates, Gomez looks at knowledge of the physical world, causal reasoning (including the chimpanzee-like errors that human children make), and the contentious subjects of ape language, theory of mind, and imitation. Attempts to teach language to chimpanzees, as well as studies of the quality of some primate vocal communication in the wild, make a powerful case that primates have a natural capacity for relatively sophisticated communication, and considerable power to learn when humans teach them. Gomez concludes that for all cognitive psychology's interest in perception, information-processing, and reasoning, some essential functions of mental life are based on ideas that cannot be explicitly articulated. Nonhuman and human primates alike rely on implicit knowledge. Studying nonhuman primates helps us to understand this perplexing aspect of all primate minds.


Book Synopsis Apes, Monkeys, Children, and the Growth of Mind by : Juan Carlos Gómez

Download or read book Apes, Monkeys, Children, and the Growth of Mind written by Juan Carlos Gómez and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What can the study of young monkeys and apes tell us about the minds of young humans? In this fascinating introduction to the study of primate minds, Juan Carlos Gomez identifies evolutionary resemblances--and differences--between human children and other primates. He argues that primate minds are best understood not as fixed collections of specialized cognitive capacities, but more dynamically, as a range of abilities that can surpass their original adaptations. In a lively overview of a distinguished body of cognitive developmental research among nonhuman primates, Gomez looks at knowledge of the physical world, causal reasoning (including the chimpanzee-like errors that human children make), and the contentious subjects of ape language, theory of mind, and imitation. Attempts to teach language to chimpanzees, as well as studies of the quality of some primate vocal communication in the wild, make a powerful case that primates have a natural capacity for relatively sophisticated communication, and considerable power to learn when humans teach them. Gomez concludes that for all cognitive psychology's interest in perception, information-processing, and reasoning, some essential functions of mental life are based on ideas that cannot be explicitly articulated. Nonhuman and human primates alike rely on implicit knowledge. Studying nonhuman primates helps us to understand this perplexing aspect of all primate minds.

Origins of Intelligence

Origins of Intelligence

Author: Sue Taylor Parker

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM

Published: 2012-10-15

Total Pages: 613

ISBN-13: 1421410419

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A look at the origins of cognitive abilities in primate species. Since Darwin’s time, comparative psychologists have searched for a good way to compare cognition in humans and nonhuman primates. In Origins of Intelligence, Sue Parker and Michael McKinney offer such a framework and make a strong case for using human development theory (both Piagetian and neo-Piagetian) to study the evolution of intelligence across primate species. Their approach is comprehensive, covering a broad range of social, symbolic, physical, and logical domains, which fall under the all-encompassing and much-debated term intelligence. A widely held theory among developmental psychologists and social and biological anthropologists is that cognitive evolution in humans has occurred through juvenilization—the gradual accentuation and lengthening of childhood in the evolutionary process. In this work, however, Parker and McKinney argue instead that new stages were added at the end of cognitive development in our hominid ancestors, coining the term adultification by terminal extension to explain this process. Drawing evidence from scores of studies on monkeys, great apes, and human children, this book provides unique insights into ontogenetic constraints that have interacted with selective forces to shape the evolution of cognitive development in our lineage. “The authors’ elegant theory and comprehensive empirical synthesis of how the development of human intelligence and brain evolved opens up cascading heuristic avenues for creatively answering one of the great questions in the human history of ideas.” —Jonas Langer, Human Development “A handy source of information on comparative cognitive abilities related to life history and brain variables.” —James Anderson, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute


Book Synopsis Origins of Intelligence by : Sue Taylor Parker

Download or read book Origins of Intelligence written by Sue Taylor Parker and published by Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM. This book was released on 2012-10-15 with total page 613 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at the origins of cognitive abilities in primate species. Since Darwin’s time, comparative psychologists have searched for a good way to compare cognition in humans and nonhuman primates. In Origins of Intelligence, Sue Parker and Michael McKinney offer such a framework and make a strong case for using human development theory (both Piagetian and neo-Piagetian) to study the evolution of intelligence across primate species. Their approach is comprehensive, covering a broad range of social, symbolic, physical, and logical domains, which fall under the all-encompassing and much-debated term intelligence. A widely held theory among developmental psychologists and social and biological anthropologists is that cognitive evolution in humans has occurred through juvenilization—the gradual accentuation and lengthening of childhood in the evolutionary process. In this work, however, Parker and McKinney argue instead that new stages were added at the end of cognitive development in our hominid ancestors, coining the term adultification by terminal extension to explain this process. Drawing evidence from scores of studies on monkeys, great apes, and human children, this book provides unique insights into ontogenetic constraints that have interacted with selective forces to shape the evolution of cognitive development in our lineage. “The authors’ elegant theory and comprehensive empirical synthesis of how the development of human intelligence and brain evolved opens up cascading heuristic avenues for creatively answering one of the great questions in the human history of ideas.” —Jonas Langer, Human Development “A handy source of information on comparative cognitive abilities related to life history and brain variables.” —James Anderson, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Gestural Communication in Nonhuman and Human Primates

Gestural Communication in Nonhuman and Human Primates

Author: Katja Liebal

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2007-11-21

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 9027291861

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Research into gestures represents a multifaceted field comprising a wide range of disciplines and research topics, varying methods and approaches, and even different species such as humans, apes and monkeys. The aim of this volume (originally published as a Special Issue of Gesture 5:1/2 (2005)) is to bring together the research in gestural communication in both nonhuman and human primates and to explore the potential of a comparative approach and its contribution to the question of an evolutionary scenario in which gestures play a significant role. The topics covered include the spontaneous natural gesture use in social groups of apes and monkeys, but also during interactions with humans, gestures of preverbal children and their interaction with language, speech-accompanying gestures in humans as well as the use of sign-language in human and nonhuman great apes. It addresses researchers with a background in Psychology, Primatology, Linguistics, and Anthropology, but it might also function as an introduction and a documentation state of the art for a wider less specialised audience which is fascinated by the role gestures might have played in the evolution of human language.


Book Synopsis Gestural Communication in Nonhuman and Human Primates by : Katja Liebal

Download or read book Gestural Communication in Nonhuman and Human Primates written by Katja Liebal and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2007-11-21 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research into gestures represents a multifaceted field comprising a wide range of disciplines and research topics, varying methods and approaches, and even different species such as humans, apes and monkeys. The aim of this volume (originally published as a Special Issue of Gesture 5:1/2 (2005)) is to bring together the research in gestural communication in both nonhuman and human primates and to explore the potential of a comparative approach and its contribution to the question of an evolutionary scenario in which gestures play a significant role. The topics covered include the spontaneous natural gesture use in social groups of apes and monkeys, but also during interactions with humans, gestures of preverbal children and their interaction with language, speech-accompanying gestures in humans as well as the use of sign-language in human and nonhuman great apes. It addresses researchers with a background in Psychology, Primatology, Linguistics, and Anthropology, but it might also function as an introduction and a documentation state of the art for a wider less specialised audience which is fascinated by the role gestures might have played in the evolution of human language.

Advances in Child Development and Behavior

Advances in Child Development and Behavior

Author: Patricia J. Bauer

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2009-08-03

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9780080922621

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Volume 37 of the Advances in Child Development and Behavior series includes 8 chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in developmental and educational psychology. A wide array of topics are discussed in detail, including the role of dyadic communication in infant social-cognitive development; space, number and the atypically developing brain; development from a behavioral genetics perspective; nonhuman primate studies of individual differences in pathways of lifespan development; the development of autobiographical memory: origins and consequences; the maturation of cognitive control and the adolescent brain; the developmental origin of naïve psychology; and children’s reasoning about traits. Each chapter provides in-depth discussions of various developmental psychology specializations. This volume serves as an invaluable resource for psychology researchers and advanced psychology students. *Goes in depth to address 10 different developmental and educational psychology topics *A necessary resource for both psychology researchers and students


Book Synopsis Advances in Child Development and Behavior by : Patricia J. Bauer

Download or read book Advances in Child Development and Behavior written by Patricia J. Bauer and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2009-08-03 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 37 of the Advances in Child Development and Behavior series includes 8 chapters that highlight some of the most recent research in developmental and educational psychology. A wide array of topics are discussed in detail, including the role of dyadic communication in infant social-cognitive development; space, number and the atypically developing brain; development from a behavioral genetics perspective; nonhuman primate studies of individual differences in pathways of lifespan development; the development of autobiographical memory: origins and consequences; the maturation of cognitive control and the adolescent brain; the developmental origin of naïve psychology; and children’s reasoning about traits. Each chapter provides in-depth discussions of various developmental psychology specializations. This volume serves as an invaluable resource for psychology researchers and advanced psychology students. *Goes in depth to address 10 different developmental and educational psychology topics *A necessary resource for both psychology researchers and students

Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees

Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees

Author: Tetsuro Matsuzawa

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-07-25

Total Pages: 539

ISBN-13: 4431302484

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From an evolutionary perspective, understanding chimpanzees offers a way of understanding the basis of human nature. This book on cognitive development in chimpanzees is the first of its kind to focus on infants reared by their own mothers within a natural setting, illustrating various aspects of chimpanzee cognition and the developmental changes accompanying them. The subjects are chimpanzees of three generations inhabiting an enriched environment, as well as a wild community in West Africa. There is a foreword by Jane Goodall and 26 color photos of chimpanzees in the laboratory and in the field in West Africa are included.


Book Synopsis Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees by : Tetsuro Matsuzawa

Download or read book Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees written by Tetsuro Matsuzawa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-07-25 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From an evolutionary perspective, understanding chimpanzees offers a way of understanding the basis of human nature. This book on cognitive development in chimpanzees is the first of its kind to focus on infants reared by their own mothers within a natural setting, illustrating various aspects of chimpanzee cognition and the developmental changes accompanying them. The subjects are chimpanzees of three generations inhabiting an enriched environment, as well as a wild community in West Africa. There is a foreword by Jane Goodall and 26 color photos of chimpanzees in the laboratory and in the field in West Africa are included.

Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition

Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition

Author: Danielle Matthews

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2014-06-15

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 9027270449

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Pragmatic development is increasingly seen as the foundation stone of language acquisition more generally. From very early on, children demonstrate a strong desire to understand and be understood that motivates the acquisition of lexicon and grammar and enables ever more effective communication. In the 35 years since the first edited volume on the topic, a flourishing literature has reported on the broad set of skills that can be called pragmatic. This volume aims to bring that literature together in a digestible format. It provides a series of succinct review chapters on 19 key topics ranging from preverbal skills right up to irony and argumentative discourse. Each chapter equips the reader with an overview of current theories, key empirical findings and questions for new research. This valuable resource will be of interest to scholars of psychology, linguistics, speech therapy, and cognitive science.


Book Synopsis Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition by : Danielle Matthews

Download or read book Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition written by Danielle Matthews and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2014-06-15 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pragmatic development is increasingly seen as the foundation stone of language acquisition more generally. From very early on, children demonstrate a strong desire to understand and be understood that motivates the acquisition of lexicon and grammar and enables ever more effective communication. In the 35 years since the first edited volume on the topic, a flourishing literature has reported on the broad set of skills that can be called pragmatic. This volume aims to bring that literature together in a digestible format. It provides a series of succinct review chapters on 19 key topics ranging from preverbal skills right up to irony and argumentative discourse. Each chapter equips the reader with an overview of current theories, key empirical findings and questions for new research. This valuable resource will be of interest to scholars of psychology, linguistics, speech therapy, and cognitive science.

The Evolution of Primate Societies

The Evolution of Primate Societies

Author: John C. Mitani

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012-10-24

Total Pages: 746

ISBN-13: 0226531732

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In 1987, the University of Chicago Press published Primate Societies, the standard reference in the field of primate behavior for an entire generation of students and scientists. But in the twenty-five years since its publication, new theories and research techniques for studying the Primate order have been developed, debated, and tested, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of our closest living relatives. Intended as a sequel to Primate Societies, The Evolution of Primate Societies compiles thirty-one chapters that review the current state of knowledge regarding the behavior of nonhuman primates. Chapters are written by the leading authorities in the field and organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they strive to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce in the wild. The inclusion of chapters on the behavior of humans at the end of each major section represents one particularly novel aspect of the book, and it will remind readers what we can learn about ourselves through research on nonhuman primates. The final section highlights some of the innovative and cutting-edge research designed to reveal the similarities and differences between nonhuman and human primate cognition. The Evolution of Primate Societies will be every bit the landmark publication its predecessor has been.


Book Synopsis The Evolution of Primate Societies by : John C. Mitani

Download or read book The Evolution of Primate Societies written by John C. Mitani and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-24 with total page 746 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1987, the University of Chicago Press published Primate Societies, the standard reference in the field of primate behavior for an entire generation of students and scientists. But in the twenty-five years since its publication, new theories and research techniques for studying the Primate order have been developed, debated, and tested, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of our closest living relatives. Intended as a sequel to Primate Societies, The Evolution of Primate Societies compiles thirty-one chapters that review the current state of knowledge regarding the behavior of nonhuman primates. Chapters are written by the leading authorities in the field and organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they strive to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce in the wild. The inclusion of chapters on the behavior of humans at the end of each major section represents one particularly novel aspect of the book, and it will remind readers what we can learn about ourselves through research on nonhuman primates. The final section highlights some of the innovative and cutting-edge research designed to reveal the similarities and differences between nonhuman and human primate cognition. The Evolution of Primate Societies will be every bit the landmark publication its predecessor has been.

Practices of Reason

Practices of Reason

Author: Ladislav Koreň

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-04-13

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 100037744X

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This book offers new insights into the nature of human rational capacities by engaging inferentialism with empirical research in the cognitive sciences. Inferentialism advocates that humans’ unique kind of intelligence is discursive and rooted in competencies to make, assess and justify claims. This approach provides a rich source of valuable insights into the nature of our rational capacities, but it is underdeveloped in important respects. For example, little attempt has been made to assess inferentialism considering relevant scientific research on human communication, cognition or reasoning. By engaging philosophical and scientific approaches in a productive dialogue, this book shows how we can better understand human rational capacities by comparing their respective strengths and weaknesses. In this vein, the author critically revisits and constructively develops central themes from the work of Robert Brandom and other "language rationalists": the nature of the assertoric practice and its connection to reasoned discourse, the linguistic constitution of the shared space of reasons, the social nature and function of reasoning, the intersubjective roots of social-normative practices and the nature of objective thought. Practices of Reason will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and philosophy of logic.


Book Synopsis Practices of Reason by : Ladislav Koreň

Download or read book Practices of Reason written by Ladislav Koreň and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers new insights into the nature of human rational capacities by engaging inferentialism with empirical research in the cognitive sciences. Inferentialism advocates that humans’ unique kind of intelligence is discursive and rooted in competencies to make, assess and justify claims. This approach provides a rich source of valuable insights into the nature of our rational capacities, but it is underdeveloped in important respects. For example, little attempt has been made to assess inferentialism considering relevant scientific research on human communication, cognition or reasoning. By engaging philosophical and scientific approaches in a productive dialogue, this book shows how we can better understand human rational capacities by comparing their respective strengths and weaknesses. In this vein, the author critically revisits and constructively develops central themes from the work of Robert Brandom and other "language rationalists": the nature of the assertoric practice and its connection to reasoned discourse, the linguistic constitution of the shared space of reasons, the social nature and function of reasoning, the intersubjective roots of social-normative practices and the nature of objective thought. Practices of Reason will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and philosophy of logic.

Joint Attention: Communication and Other Minds

Joint Attention: Communication and Other Minds

Author: Naomi Eilan

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2005-03-03

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 9780199245642

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"This book contains research into the cognitive phenomenon of 'joint attention'. Philosophical and psychological perspectives on the nature and significance of this phenomenon are examined"--Provided by publisher.


Book Synopsis Joint Attention: Communication and Other Minds by : Naomi Eilan

Download or read book Joint Attention: Communication and Other Minds written by Naomi Eilan and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2005-03-03 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book contains research into the cognitive phenomenon of 'joint attention'. Philosophical and psychological perspectives on the nature and significance of this phenomenon are examined"--Provided by publisher.

The Prehistory of Language

The Prehistory of Language

Author: Rudolf Botha

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-04-23

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0199545871

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Prominent linguists, cognitive scientists, archaeologists, primatologists, anthropologists, and natural scientists examine issues and advances in understanding language evolution, ranging from the co-evolution of language and music to the evolutionary biology of language. An important and stylish contribution to a fascinating area of research.


Book Synopsis The Prehistory of Language by : Rudolf Botha

Download or read book The Prehistory of Language written by Rudolf Botha and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-23 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prominent linguists, cognitive scientists, archaeologists, primatologists, anthropologists, and natural scientists examine issues and advances in understanding language evolution, ranging from the co-evolution of language and music to the evolutionary biology of language. An important and stylish contribution to a fascinating area of research.