1 / 14

Four Routes of Cognitive Evolution

Four Routes of Cognitive Evolution. Cecilia Heyes ELSE / UCL. Joint ELSE / ABC Workshop “Exploring the Boundaries of Rationality”, London, 19-20 June 2003. Source. Locus. Extension. Natural selection changes rules and representations. or Developmental selection. or Input processes.

elita
Download Presentation

Four Routes of Cognitive Evolution

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Four Routes of Cognitive Evolution Cecilia Heyes ELSE / UCL Joint ELSE / ABC Workshop “Exploring the Boundaries of Rationality”, London, 19-20 June 2003

  2. Source Locus Extension Natural selection changes rules and representations or Developmental selection or Input processes

  3. LOCUS Rules & reps Input process Natural selection SOURCE Developmental selection Labels Phylogenetic construction Phylogenetic inflection Ontogenetic construction Ontogenetic inflection Heyes (in press) Four routes of cognitive evolution. Psychological Review.

  4. Stomach example Foods = input process Enzymes = rules & reps Natural selection New enzymes > higher fitness (Phylogenetic construction) Natural selection New jaw > higher fitness (Phylogenetic inflection) Developmental selection Proliferation with use, loss with disuse (Ontogenetic construction) Developmental selection Ingestion > strength > more & better food (Ontogenetic inflection)

  5. Natural selection Poverty of the stimulus Genetically heritable Developmental selection Wealth of the stimulus Not genetically heritable   Types of Evidence Adaptive character Neural localisation

  6. Examples of ‘other’ routes • Face processing • Theory of mind • Imitation

  7. Gautier et al (2000) Nat. Neuro., 2, 568-573 Configural processing of other stimuli Face processing Distinctive rules / reps - configural processing Neonatal face preference • BUT • Neonatal effect subcortical Farah et al (1998) Psych Rev, 105, 482-498 Ontogeneticconstruction

  8.   Karin-D’Arcy & Povinelli (2002) IJCP, 15, 21-54 Theory of mind Distinctive rules / representations - reps of mental reps Invariant development Autism is heritable • BUT • Hearing-impaired / siblings • Nonhuman primates • BUT • Problems more general • Earliest in joint attention Phylogenetic or OntogeneticConstruction

  9. Neonatal evidence in question • Learning models now available    Anisfeld (1996) Dev. Rev, 16, 149-161 Imitation Innate mechanism with distinctive rules / reps ? Ontogeneticinflection

  10. 18 ms RT ms TEST C I Open Open C Close Open I Open Close I Close Close C Can learning counteract automatic imitation ? Heyes, Bird & Haggard (in prep)

  11. GROUP TRAINING TEST 34 ms 9 ms Open Close Close Open Open Open C Close Open I Open Close I Close Close C Incompatible RT ms 24 hrs Open Open Close Close Compatible C I C I 432 trials (6 x 72)

  12. Conclusion • There are at least two sources and two loci of evolutionary change affecting cognitive processes • It is possible that few adaptive characteristics of cognition are ‘adaptations’

  13. Why describe developmental selection • as ‘evolutionary’ ? • Optional • Historical accident that VSR first identified at genetic level • Doesn’t make all cognitive change evolutionary • Information acquisition without systematic change • to input or mechanisms (e.g. fact learning) • Changes to input and/or mechanism that are neutral • or delecterious wrt fitness

  14. Why not ascribe all adaptive effects of LD&C to natural selection ? • Some not ‘foreseen’ by natural selection when LDC mechanism phylogenetically constructed e.g. serrated finger nails • In these cases ascription to natural selection non-discriminative / non-explanatory, like appeal to ‘laws of physics’

More Related