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The evolution of intelligence: adaptive specializations versus general process.

E M Macphail1, J J Bolhuis

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, UK. emm1@york.ac.uk

Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
|September 25, 2001
PubMed
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This study challenges the ecological view of animal cognition, finding no evidence that learning and memory processes differ qualitatively between species. Human language capacity remains the only significant cognitive distinction.

Area of Science:

  • Comparative psychology
  • Animal cognition
  • Evolutionary biology

Background:

  • Darwin proposed intelligence differences are quantitative, not qualitative.
  • The ecological approach posits species-specific cognitive processes tied to ecological niches.
  • This contrasts with the general process view of universal learning and memory mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence for the ecological claim that animal learning and memory vary with stimuli.
  • To evaluate if species-specific cognitive processes exist in non-human animals.
  • To investigate the role of ecological factors in shaping cognitive abilities.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of resource distribution, olfactory learning, and biological constraints.
  • Analysis of spatial learning and memory performance in food-storing versus non-storing bird species.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of hippocampal size in relation to spatial memory in birds.

    • Main Results:

    • No convincing support found for the ecological account from initial literature.
    • Storing bird species did not consistently outperform non-storing species in spatial tasks, even under increased demand.
    • Evidence contradicts the hypothesis linking hippocampal enlargement in storing birds to enhanced spatial memory.

    Conclusions:

    • The ecological view of cognition lacks robust empirical support.
    • Learning and memory processes appear to be qualitatively similar across animal species.
    • Human language acquisition is identified as a unique qualitative cognitive difference.