Expression unleashed: The evolutionary and cognitive foundations of human communication

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Human expression is diverse, encompassing language, art, and social behaviors.
• Previous research often views expression as supplementary to language.
• Understanding the evolutionary roots of human expressiveness is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose that diverse human expression stems from shared cognitive capacities.
• To explain how these capacities evolved for recognizing informative intentions.
• To reframe cognitive pragmatics as foundational to human behavior and culture.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis across species.
• Evolutionary modeling of cognitive capacities.
• Survey of human behaviors like joint action, teaching, and art.

Main Results:

• Human expression is driven by evolved cognitive capacities for recognizing informative intentions.
• These capacities are adaptations to a partner-choice social ecology, emerging early in development.
• Unleashed expression facilitates language and diverse cultural practices.

Conclusions:

• Human expressiveness is a species-specific trait rooted in unique cognitive adaptations.
• Cognitive pragmatics is central, not peripheral, to understanding human distinctiveness.
• This framework explains the open-endedness and diversity of human communication and behavior.