What makes us human (Homo sapiens)? The challenge of cognitive cross-species comparison.

Full Abstract

Two major theoretical approaches have dominated the quest for uniquely human cognitive abilities:
a developmentalist approach stressing the importance of environmental and social conditions, and a predominant approach in experimental and comparative psychology, the deterministic approach suggesting the effect of environmental and social conditions to be minimal. As a consequence, most claims of human cognitive uniqueness are based on comparisons of White middle class Westerner humans (Homo sapiens) with captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). However, humans are much more than only White middle class Westerners, and chimpanzees are much more than only captives. A review of some data available on different populations of humans and chimpanzees reveals that only the predictions of the developmentalist approach are supported. In addition, systematic biases are too often introduced in experiment protocols when comparing humans with apes that further cast doubts on cross-species comparisons. The author argues that only with consideration of within-species population differences in the cognitive domains and the use of well-matched cross-species experimental procedures will an objective understanding of the different cognitive abilities between species emerge. This will require a shift in the theoretical approach adopted by many in experimental and comparative psychology.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Boesch, Christophe (C);

Affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. boesch(-atsign-)eva.mpg.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Review

Journal: Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) (J Comp Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Aug; vol 121 (issue 3) : pp 227-40

Dates: Created 2007/08/16; Completed 2007/11/13;

PMID: 17696649, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Cognition
Developmental Biology
Environment
Humans - psychology

Humans - psychology
Pan troglodytes - psychology
Socioeconomic Factors
Space Perception
Species Specificity

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.