Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:25:52.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Culture in the world shapes culture in the head (and vice versa)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2019

Edward Baggs Open the ORCID record for Edward Baggs [Opens in a new window] ,
Vicente Raja  and
Michael L. Anderson
Edward Baggs
Affiliation:
Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, London WC1H 0QB, United Kingdom. [email protected]
Vicente Raja
Affiliation:
The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University, London ON N6A 5B7, Canada. [email protected]@uwo.ca
Michael L. Anderson
Affiliation:
The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University, London ON N6A 5B7, Canada. [email protected]@uwo.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We agree with Heyes that an explanation of human uniqueness must appeal to cultural evolution, and not just genes. Her account, though, focuses narrowly on internal cognitive mechanisms. This causes her to mischaracterize human behavior and to overlook the role of material culture. A more powerful account would view cognitive gadgets as spanning organisms and their (shared) environments.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e172
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arendash, G. W., Garcia, M. F., Costa, D. A., Cracchiolo, J. R., Wefes, I. M. & Potter, H. (2004) Environmental enrichment improves cognition in aged Alzheimer's transgenic mice despite stable β–amyloid deposition. Neuroreport 15(11):1751–54.Google Scholar
Barth, C. M. & Funke, J. (2010) Negative affective environments improve complex solving performance. Cognition and Emotion, 24(7), 1259–1268.Google Scholar
Belland, B. R., Kim, C. & Hannafin, M. J. (2013) A framework for designing scaffolds that improve motivation and cognition. Educational Psychologist 48(4):243–70.Google Scholar
Clark, A. (1998) Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Clark, A. & Chalmers, D. (1998) The extended mind. Analysis 58(1):7–19.Google Scholar
Flick, L. B. (2000) Cognitive scaffolding that fosters scientific inquiry in middle level science. Journal of Science Teacher Education 11(2):109–129.Google Scholar
Goldin-Meadow, S. (2005) Hearing gesture: How our hands help us think. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Henrich, J. (2015) The secret of our success: How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species and making us smarter. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Heyes, C. (2012a) Grist and mills: On the cultural origins of cultural learning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Societ y B: Biological Sciences 367(1599):2181–91.Google Scholar
Heyes, C. (2018) Cognitive gadgets: The cultural evolution of thinking. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Kirsh, D. (2005) Metacognition, distributed cognition and visual design. In: Cognition, education, and communication technology, ed. Gardenfors, P. and Johansson, P., pp. 147–180. Routledge.Google Scholar
Kirsh, D. & Maglio, P. (1994) On distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic action. Cognitive Science 18(4): 513–549.Google Scholar
Laland, K. N., Odling-Smee, J. & Feldman, M. W. (2000) Niche construction, biological evolution, and cultural change. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23(1):131–146.Google Scholar
Laland, K. N., Uller, T., Feldman, M. W., Sterelny, K., Müller, G. B., Moczek, A., Jablonka, E. & Odling-Smee, J. (2015) The extended evolutionary synthesis: Its structure, assumptions and predictions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282(1813):20151019.Google Scholar
Lewontin, R. C. (1983) The organism as the subject and object of evolution. Scientia 118(1–8):65–95.Google Scholar
Merleau-Ponty, M. (2013) Phenomenology of perception. Routledge.Google Scholar
Stout, D. (2002) Skill and cognition in stone tool production: An ethnographic case study from Irian Jaya. Current Anthropology 43(5):693–722.Google Scholar