Working Memory, its Executive Functions, and the Emergence of Modern Thinking

Coolidge, Frederick L.; Wynn, Thomas

doi:10.1017/s0959774305000016

Cited by 243 publications

(143 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…Its neural substrate continues to be strenuously debated (53,54); but, whatever it was, that structural innovation was most plausibly acquired as part and parcel of the radical biological reorganization that gave birth to H. sapiens as an anatomically distinctive entity. In which case (like those feathers and limbs) it remained unexploited, at least in the cognitive context, for a very substantial length of time, until its new use was ''discovered'' by its possessor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human origins: Out of Africa

Tattersall

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

116

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Our species, Homo sapiens, is highly autapomorphic (uniquely derived) among hominids in the structure of its skull and postcranial skeleton. It is also sharply distinguished from other organisms by its unique symbolic mode of cognition. The fossil and archaeological records combine to show fairly clearly that our physical and cognitive attributes both first appeared in Africa, but at different times. Essentially modern bony conformation was established in that continent by the 200 -150 Ka range (a dating in good agreement with dates for the origin of H. sapiens derived from modern molecular diversity). The event concerned was apparently shortterm because it is essentially unanticipated in the fossil record. In contrast, the first convincing stirrings of symbolic behavior are not currently detectable until (possibly well) after 100 Ka. The radical reorganization of gene expression that underwrote the distinctive physical appearance of H. sapiens was probably also responsible for the neural substrate that permits symbolic cognition. This exaptively acquired potential lay unexploited until it was ''discovered'' via a cultural stimulus, plausibly the invention of language. Modern humans appear to have definitively exited Africa to populate the rest of the globe only after both their physical and cognitive peculiarities had been acquired within that continent.Homo sapiens ͉ evolution ͉ fossil record ͉ symbolic cognition

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human origins: Out of Africa

Tattersall

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

116

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“…An increased planning depth demands more developed working memory and executive functions. It has been suggested that during human evolution, the working memory span has gradually increased (Coolidge and Wynn 2005;Nowell 2010), with an estimated span of 2 5 1 units for chimpanzees and pre-Homo and 7 5 2 units for modern humans (Read and van der Leeuw 2008). Furthermore, Stuart-Fox (2014) argues that increased working memory is involved in understanding causal relations (see "Explaining Relationships between Concepts").…”

Section: Communicating Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Archaeology of Teaching and the Evolution ofHomo docens

Gärdenfors¹,

Högberg²

2017

Current Anthropology

138

112

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Teaching is present in all human societies, while within other species it is very limited. Something happened during the evolution of Homo sapiens that also made us Homo docens-the teaching animal. Based on discussions of animal and hominin learning, we analyze the evolution of intentional teaching by a series of levels that require increasing capacities of mind reading and communication on the part of the teacher and the learner. The levels of teaching are (1) intentional evaluative feedback, (2) drawing attention, (3) demonstrating, (4) communicating concepts, and (5) explaining relations between concepts. We suggest that level after level has been added during the evolution of teaching. We demonstrate how different technologies depend on increasing sophistication in the levels of cognition and communication required for teaching them. As regards the archaeological evidence for the different levels, we argue that stable transmission of the Oldowan technology requires at least teaching by demonstration and that learning the late Acheulean hand-axe technology requires at least communicating concepts. We conclude that H. docens preceded H. sapiens.

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“…The enlargement of the parietal areas is a discrete and well-expressed trait of the endocranium of H. sapiens (Bruner et al, 2003(Bruner et al, , 2011Bruner, 2004;Neubauer et al, 2009Neubauer et al, , 2010Gunz et al, 2010). Considering the role of the parietal areas in the perception and management of the relationships between inner and outer world (Bruner, 2010a), a two-part model of the evolution of modern humans might also explain some of the differences between early (Middle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic) and late (Later Stone Age/ Upper Paleolithic) modern human cultures (Klein, 2000(Klein, , 2008Foley and Lahr, 2003;Wynn and Coolidge, 2003;Coolidge and Wynn, 2005). It has been long suggested that morphological and behavioral modernity could have been decoupled along the evolution of H. sapiens and that 'modernity' evolved not as a single package but as a combination of characters evolved in different times and places (Stringer, 2006(Stringer, , 2007Tattersall, 2009).…”

Section: Phylogeny and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurocranial evolution in modern humans: the case of Jebel Irhoud 1

Bruner

Pearson

2013

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Jebel Irhoud 1 represents an almost complete cranium from the North African late Middle Pleistocene. Despite the good preservation of most of its anatomical regions, its phylogenetic position is still uncertain, particularly its relationship to the emergence of the modern human lineage. The present paper supplies a basic morphometric description and comparison of the endocast of Jebel Irhoud 1. The endocast's maximum width is large when compared with the hemispheric length, with values similar to those of Neandertals. Conversely, the frontal width is less pronounced, showing proportions compatible with modern and non-modern human taxa. The vertical proportions are similar to those displayed by Homo erectus, while the lateral proportions are comparable to Neandertals. Furthermore, the upper parietal areas show a certain parasagittal lateral bulging, as in European Neandertals. It remains to be established if this trait evolved independently in both the Neandertal and modern human lineages, or if it was already present in a common ancestor of these two groups. Given that Jebel Irhoud 1 in North Africa and Herto in East Africa have similar geological age, similar facial morphology, but different vault proportions, it seems likely that the origin of the modern human lineage may have predated the origin of many aspects of the modern human brain.

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Working Memory, its Executive Functions, and the Emergence of Modern Thinking

Cited by 243 publications

References 95 publications

Human origins: Out of Africa

Human origins: Out of Africa

The Archaeology of Teaching and the Evolution ofHomo docens

Neurocranial evolution in modern humans: the case of Jebel Irhoud 1

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