Lecture 1: Intro Flashcards
Standard model vs MAWA model
Standard model: arts REFLECT cognitive capacities
MAWA concept: arts SHAPED cognitive capacities
Ways to achieve MAWA (4)
1) Artful cognition
Ex: social behaviour can be seen as theatre (playing diff roles in life)
2) Novel art functions in humans
Ex: musical scales –diff from other species (not seen in monkeys, etc.)
3) Joint evolutionary precursors (art/non-art)
Ex: co-evolution of music and language
4)Applied arts effects on cognition/behaviour
Ex: melodic intonation therapy –musicalize speech can restore speech
Art thinking vs MAWA concept
Art thinking: make ordinary thinking art-like (Witterger’s perspective)
MAWA: ordinary thinking has art-like nature to it
Narrative vs Performing/Coordinative arts
Narrative: how we tell stories
- Static: visual arts –paintings, sculptures, photography, poetry
- Theatre/Storytelling
Coordinative: music and dance
Categories are not mutually exclusive; however, visual art is not performing art & music not narrative art
Narrative triad
Images –sculptures, paintings)
Language –theatre/story-telling
Gesture (wordless manner)– dance
Performing triad
Utterances (something that is spoken rather than “sentences” that is written)–in theatre
Dance phrases
Melodies –in music
2 words to describe narrative vs coordinative arts
Narrative Arts: visual arts (STATIC narrativity) & theatre (DYNAMIC narrativity)
- Character –I can think about them but they cannot think about me, no on-going interaction
Coordinative Arts: dance (coordination of BODIES) & music (coordination of VOICES)
- Partner –interact w each other (reciprocity in interaction)
Objects (5)
(part of top 10 systems of core knowledge)
1) Objects and their categorization –identify and categorize
2) Language –abstract associations w objects
3) Numerical cognition –how many or how much
4) Logic and deductive reasoning
5) Spatial cognition & orientation –where they occur in environment and where you are in relation to them
Events (2)
(part of top 10 systems of core knowledge)
6) Causal inference thru inductive reasoning –inferring a causal relationship b/w 2 events
7) Mental time travel –retrospectively (in past, memory system), prospection (in future, mental stim of what you want to happen/what might happen)
Agent (3)
(part of top 10 systems of core knowledge)
8) Mentalizing (theory of mind) –inferences about others’ feelings based on facial, body language, etc. (observations)
9) Social intelligence; categorizing people
10) Self-awareness; self-regulation
Domain-general Processes (10)
1) Associativity: comes from experience, “train-of-thought” (one idea, builds from other)
2) Emotional appraisal/reward processing: appraisal whether these objects good/bad
3) Attention: focus on one thing, can shift your focus to something else quickly
4) Working memory: apply/manipulate info (in short term memory)
5) Inhibition/suppression/delaying
6) Conflict monitoring/response conflict
7) Task switching (going from task 1 to task 2) or cue switching (in one context cue means one thing, in diff enviro means something else) or multi-tasking (doing 2 or more tasks at the same time)
8) Updating: new info comes in and have to update understanding, cannot be fixed on one interpretation
9) Predicting: cognition for adaptive action (thinking about consequences)
10) Self-regulation/Self-monitoring
Domain-specific (7)
Unique Arts Capacities
1) Mime/pantomime (iconic gestures) –resembles/structurally similar to the thing itself, but not the actual action
2) Figurative drawing (iconic images in 2D) –realistic drawing of things, representation, but not the actual object/landscape
3) Acting (impersonation) –pretend to be someone else, socially sanctioned form to theatre (do not want someone to pretend to be a doctor for example)
4) Rhythmic synchronization of movement to other ppl thru group dancing
5) Most diverse musical scale systems (singing) of any species
6) Most diverse chorusing types of any species
7) Most elaborate group rituals of any species
Last 3 not unique but accentuations
Unique Sensorimotor Capacities
- Vocal (3)
- Manual (3)
- Pedal (1)
Vocal
1) Speech (and song)
2) Voluntary control of vocalization
3) Vocal imitation (vocal learning)
Manual
4) Highly enhanced manual dexterity
5) Gestural imitation
6) Demonstrational learning (teaching)
Pedal
7) Bipedalism: walk on 2 legs
What do narrative vs coordinative arts do in Systems of Social Knowledge
Narrative arts simulate social interactions –watching/reading some interaction you are not part of
Coordinative arts stimulate social interactions –actively part of it, engaging in it
Biological paradox of group living
Individual organisms are self-serving (selfish)
In groups, “cheaters” can reap the benefits of cooperation without paying the costs
Groups are unstable; defection is common
Within Group vs Between Group
Within Group: Competition (me vs you), Cooperation (us)
Between Group: Competition (us vs them), Cooperation (us+them)
Social Brain Hypothesis
In primates, group size predicts brain size
Larger group=larger neocortex volume
Greater group size=greater # social relationships=greater brain size
Human brain expansion was driven by need for social intelligence.
Social Intelligence (7)
1) Keeping track of social relationships in networks
- Recognizing people, knowing their name
- Being aware of people’s goal structure and agency (what kind of person are they, what can they do to you -harm you? help you?)
- Distinguishing friends vs foes
2) Intersubjectivity: understanding others, theory-of-mind
- Cannot know what others are feeling directly, but can infer
3) Categorizing the self and others into groups (us/them)
- In-group preferences (ethnocentrism)
4) Folk psychology: explaining people’s behaviour w/ regard to their mental states (e.g., emotions, desires)
5) Recognizing emotions in others (emotional awareness)
6) Concern for others; empathy
7) Helping behaviour, conflict resolution
Behavioural Coordination
B/c social group are unstable, require mechanisms to maintain commitment
Performance rituals in which individuals synchronize w/ one another are one important means of supporting group functionality
“People who sync together think together”
Reciprocity: I help you, you help me (you owe me one)
- Works well for dyads, but not for large groups
Synchronize group rituals stim coordination –> behavioural coordination –> group cooperation
Coordination and cooperation are linked
Functions of group rituals
Demonstrate commitment to the group (more than just saying you are willing to help, showing it as well)
Increase group cohesion (our sense of “we”)
Social Learning & Cumulative Culture
Social learning –> Cultural transmission –>Cumulative culture
Cumulative culture: an inheritance system to build on the cultural behaviours of one’s predecessors, allowing increases in cultural complexity to occur
Culture vs Cultural Evolution
Culture: system of accumulated knowledge that is transmitted across generations through social learning
Cultural evolution: manner in which cultural knowledge changes over generations
