Alle Publikationen
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2019
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(2019): Regularity Extraction Across Species: Associative Learning Mechanisms Shared by Human and Non-Human Primates. In: Topics in cognitive science 11 (3), S. 573-586. DOI: 10.1111/tops.12343
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12343 Abstract: Extracting the regularities of our environment is a core cognitive ability in human and non-human primates. Comparative studies may provide information of strong heuristic value to constrain the elaboration of computational models of regularity learning. This study illustrates this point by testing human and non-human primates (Guinea baboons, Papio papio) with the same experimental paradigm, using a novel online learning measure. For local co-occurrence regularities, we found similar patterns of regularity extraction in baboons and humans. However, only humans extracted the more global sequence structure. It is proposed that only the first result that is common to both species should be used to constrain models of regularity learning. The second result indicates that the extraction of global regularities cannot be accounted for by mere associative learning mechanisms and suggests that humans probably benefit from their language recoding abilities for extracting these regularities. We propose to use a comparative approach to address a series of remaining theoretical questions, which will contribute to the development of a general theory of regularity learning.
2010
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(2010): Social cognition and the evolution of language: constructing cognitive phylogenies. In: Neuron 65 (6), S. 795-814. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.011 Abstract: Human language and social cognition are closely linked: advanced social cognition is necessary for children to acquire language, and language allows forms of social understanding (and, more broadly, culture) that would otherwise be impossible. Both "language" and "social cognition" are complex constructs, involving many independent cognitive mechanisms, and the comparative approach provides a powerful route to understanding the evolution of such mechanisms. We provide a broad comparative review of mechanisms underlying social intelligence in vertebrates, with the goal of determining which human mechanisms are broadly shared, which have evolved in parallel in other clades, and which, potentially, are uniquely developed in our species. We emphasize the importance of convergent evolution for testing hypotheses about neural mechanisms and their evolution.
2003
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(2003): A dog's got personality: A cross-species comparative approach to personality judgments in dogs and humans. In: Journal of personality and social psychology 85 (6), S. 1161-1169. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.6.1161
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14674821 Abstract: This research offers a blueprint for how a cross-species comparative approach can be realized empirically. In a single design, parallel procedures and instruments were used in 2 species, dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans (Homo sapiens), to test whether personality differences exist and can be judged in dogs as accurately as in humans. Personality judgments of humans and dogs were compared on 3 accuracy criteria: internal consistency, consensus, and correspondence. Results showed that, on all 3 criteria, judgments of dogs were as accurate as judgments of humans. These findings are consistent with the evolutionary continuity hypothesis and suggest an important conclusion not widely considered by either personality or animal researchers: Personality differences do exist and can be measured in animals other than humans.
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