cognition and intelligence

Question 1

human brains are about how many times larger than that of closest primate relatives?

Answer 1

3x

Question 2

what are some cognitive skills that humans possess that other primates dont?

Answer 2

language, symbolic mathematics, scientific reasoning

Question 3

why do cognitive abilities evolve

Answer 3

in response to relatively specific environmental challenges

Question 4

distinctive aspects of primate cognition evolved mainly in response to what?

Answer 4

challenging demands of a complex social life, constant competition, cooperation and negotiation

Question 5

what is cognition?

Answer 5

includes all the mental processes used by humans to transform sensory input into knowledge

Question 6

what can cognition in humans be and what can cognitive processes do?

Answer 6

cognition can be conscious or unconscious, concrete or abstract, intuitive or conceptual

cog processes used existing knowledge and generate new knowledge

Question 7

what does intelligence encompass?

Answer 7

cognition

Question 8

cognition is the method by which…

Answer 8

people assimilate and integrate knowledge

Question 9

what are cognitive abilities?

Answer 9

brain based skills and mental processes needed to carry out any task and have more to do with the mechanisms of how you learn, remember, pay attention rather than any actual knowledge you have learnt

Question 10

what is intelligence?

Answer 10

both the assimilation of knowledge as well as the ability to apply such knowledge (assimilation and application)

Question 11

what is intelligence for?

Answer 11

• controls our behavior to ensure our survival

Question 12

how does natural intelligence manifest?

Answer 12

in behavior

Question 13

how do we understand intelligence?

Answer 13

understand our behavior and its underlying mechanisms

Question 14

intelligence - some common sense notions

Answer 14

• thinking and problem solving
• learning and memory
• language
• intuition and creativity
• consciousness
• emotions
• surviving in a complex world
• perpetual and motor abilities

Question 15

what is the role of the brain in cognitive development?

Answer 15

• learning involves changes in neurons and synapses
• developmental changes in the brain enable increasingly complex and efficient thought
• the brain remains adaptable throughout life

Question 16

the link between culture and cognition

Answer 16

many scholars view culture itself as cognition

• culture is mental programming
• culture defined as norms, opinions, beliefs, values and worldviews, which are all cognitive products
• culture is a knowledge system
• cognitive skills allow humans to have culture

Question 17

what sets the highly cognitive human mind apart from the ape mind?

Answer 17

symbolic behavior

humans could use a stick to as a sceptre to symbolise power whereas apes would use sticks just as a practical tool

Question 18

what is a symbol?

Answer 18

often an ordinary object, event, person or animal to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and significance

Question 19

some examples of human symbols

Answer 19

country - died cloth
skull and cross bones - danger
roses - love

Question 20

how do we know if something is a symbol?

Answer 20

• repeat appearance
• wide distribution across a population
• seems to be connected with a specific event or belief

Question 21

when did the symbolic explosion occur?

Answer 21

in europe c 35ka

Question 22

intelligence and cognition evidence

Answer 22

• middle to upper paleolithic transition (55-35k)
• aurignacian (after 40kya)
• complex ornaments found
• evidence of burial rituals
• jewelry
• aurignac rockshelter, France

Question 23

what is the earliest evidence of symbolism and modern behavior ?

Answer 23

• the middle stone age - Africa

- 280 - 30 ka

Question 24

what is missing for personal ornaments to become relevant to the development of symbolism?

Answer 24

• individuals don’t only need to recognise group membership
• but also need to know that other individuals recognise the use of symbolic markers and an indication of group membership
• this task goes beyond simple social catergorisation
• one needs to understand to make sure that ones representation of group membership coincides with the representation of others
• one needs higher theory of mind to recognize that the meanings of symbols are shared

Question 25

expand on the concept of neanderthal ceremonialism

Answer 25

• evidence from burials shows that neanderthals accommodated the sick and injured in life and treated the dead with honor and ritual

Question 26

evidence for neanderthal burial rituals

Answer 26

• nearly complete skeleton in shallow grave at La Chapelle aux Saints (found 1908)
• Misshapen individual: acutely curved spine from osteoarthritis, thus being bent-over or hunched; old and highly degenerated

Question 27

describe the individual that was found in la Chapelle aux Saints in 1908

Answer 27

Misshapen individual: acutely curved spine from osteoarthritis, thus being bent-over or hunched; old and highly degenerated