Chapter 1 - Origins of Thought

Question 1

Aristotle

what did they study?
Year?

Answer 1

Mentalism: hylomorphism: the soul is the main entity

300B.C

Question 2

Andreas Vesalius

what did they study?
Year?

Answer 2

Studied human anatomy (nervous system). familar with brain anatomy. brain was the seed of our understanding

• More evidence-based

1500s

Question 3

René Descartes

what did they study?
Year?

Answer 3

Dualism:
-brain = basic behaviours (moving, smelling)

• mind = higher though and understanding

1600s

Question 4

Charles Darwin
and Alfred Russel Wallace

what did they study?
Year?

Answer 4

Materialism: can be explained by science.

• Promoted idea of natural selection

1800s - 1900s

Question 5

Evidence for species evolution

Answer 5

• fossil records show change in hominid skull
• similar arm bone structure (bat/human)
• selective breeding dogs and plants
• Galapagos islands drought beak size changed in 18 months

Question 6

Gregor Mendel

Answer 6

• Experiments involving crossbreeding of plants
• coined recessive and Dom traits

– Same time period as Darwin

Question 7

Baldwin Effect

Answer 7

knowing how to use tools (engraved in genes)

ex: birds when born, know how to use sticks to open nuts instinctivly

Question 8

How long ago?
First Brain Cell: ___mya
First Brain: ___ mya
First Primate Brain: __ mya

Answer 8

First Brain Cell: 700 mya
First Brain: 250 mya
First Primate Brain: 7 mya

Question 9

Simple nervous system (2)

Answer 9

Nerve net:
only has reflexive motor responses and no central brain (jellyfish)

Ganglia:
a bit more complex than nerve net
- Ganglia allow this simple cognition

Question 10

Chordate Nervous System

Answer 10

• true brain
• true spinal cord
• bilateral symmetry
• crossed organization of brain hemispheres

humans, birds, frog, fish

Question 11

Australopithecus

Answer 11

our distant acestor. we watched a video on how they became bipedalist and used tools

Question 12

Homo habilis

Answer 12

‘handy human’

used tools

Question 13

homo erectus

Answer 13

‘upright human’

bipedal
-migrated beyond Africa
-more sophisticated tools

Question 14

Neanderthals

Answer 14

• europe and asia
• ancient DNA shows interbreeding with modern humans
• had the FOXP2 gene

Question 15

FOXP2 gene

Answer 15

gene that expresses speech, verbal communication, syllables, sounds

Question 16

homo sapiens

Answer 16

‘us’

appeared in the last 250k years

Question 17

What is the correlation with hominid brain size and evolving?

Answer 17

as the brain size increased, tool-making and speech increased

H. erectus - 1200 cm2
H. neaderthalensis - 1400 cm2
H. sapiens - 1300 cm2

Question 18

Wallace’s Conundrum

Answer 18

how can Darwins theory of natural selection be the only reason for the complex human mind

what about, “cultural transmission or learned behaviours”?