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Related Concept Videos

Evolutionary Psychology01:20

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the human psyche...
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology01:20

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
Cognitivism01:17

Cognitivism

Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective01:23

Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective

In a study where individuals posing as strangers offered compliments and proposed casual sex to students, the responses differed significantly based on gender. Not a single woman accepted the proposal, while 70% of the men agreed. This outcome provides a useful scenario to explore through the lens of evolutionary psychology and social learning theory, highlighting the diverse perspectives on human sexual behaviors.
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Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Cognition and Behavior01:23

Cognition and Behavior

Social psychology examines the complex interplay between individual mental processes and social interactions. Historically, the field was divided into two domains: social behavior and social cognition. Researchers focusing on social behavior analyzed actions within social contexts, such as conformity, aggression, or cooperation. Meanwhile, social cognition researchers investigated how people perceive, interpret, and mentally represent their social environments. However, modern perspectives no...

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Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face
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Published on: January 7, 2019

Human evolution and cognition.

Ian Tattersall1

  • 1Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA. iant@amnh.org

Theory in Biosciences = Theorie in Den Biowissenschaften
|May 29, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human symbolic cognition is a recent evolutionary development, not a gradual improvement. Its emergence, driven by exaptation and emergence, sparked unprecedented technological innovation in Homo sapiens.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Evolution
  • Paleoanthropology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Human cognition is uniquely symbolic, differing qualitatively from earlier hominid cognitive styles.
  • Hominid fossil and archaeological records indicate sporadic, out-of-phase biological and technological innovations.
  • Homo sapiens existed anatomically long before symbolic behavior emerged.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary origins of human symbolic thought.
  • To understand the relationship between biological and cognitive evolution in hominids.
  • To analyze the emergence of modern human cognition and its impact on innovation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of hominid fossil records.
  • Examination of archaeological evidence for technological innovation.
  • Comparative cognitive style analysis between hominid species.

Main Results:

  • Symbolic thought originated through exaptation and emergence, not gradual improvement.
  • Modern human cognition is a recent evolutionary acquisition.
  • The advent of symbolic cognition initiated a new pattern of constant technological innovation.

Conclusions:

  • Human symbolic cognition arose from routine evolutionary processes (exaptation, emergence).
  • The emergence of symbolic thought in Homo sapiens fundamentally altered the pace and nature of innovation.
  • Modern human behavior is characterized by continuous change driven by symbolic capacities.