Article contents
Mental attention, not language, may explain evolutionary growth of human intelligence and brain size
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2006
Abstract
Using neoPiagetian theory of mental attention (or working memory), I task-analyze two complex performances of great apes and one symbolic performance (funeral burials) of early Homo sapiens. Relating results to brain size growth data, I derive estimates of mental attention for great apes, Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and modern Homo sapiens, and use children's cognitive development as reference. This heuristic model seems consistent with research.
- Type
- Open Peer Commentary
- Information
- Copyright
- © 2006 Cambridge University Press
- 3
- Cited by