Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 12, 2025

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
Published on: April 18, 2017
The technical reasoning hypothesis does not rule out the potential key roles of imitation and working memory for CTC
Alba Motes-Rodrigo1, Eva Reindl2, Elisa Bandini1
1Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72070Tübingen, Germany. albamotes7@gmail.comhttps://sites.google.com/view/alba-motes-rodrigo/homeelisa-bandini@hotmail.ithttps://sites.google.com/view/elisabandini/home.
Abstract:
To support their claim for technical reasoning skills rather than imitation as the key for cumulative technological culture (CTC), Osiurak and Reynaud argue that chimpanzees can imitate mechanical actions, but do not have CTC. They also state that an increase in working memory in human evolution could not have been a key driver of CTC. We discuss why we disagree with these claims.
Related Concept Videos
Information Processing Approach
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
Working Memory
Cognitivism
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...
Reason and Intuition

