Natural Ecology and Comparative Approaches to Human Memory
Book Chapter
Schwartz, BL, Kurdoglu-Ersoy, P, Hess, KL et al. (2024). Natural Ecology and Comparative Approaches to Human Memory
. 216-228. 10.1093/oso/9780192882578.003.0010
Schwartz, BL, Kurdoglu-Ersoy, P, Hess, KL et al. (2024). Natural Ecology and Comparative Approaches to Human Memory
. 216-228. 10.1093/oso/9780192882578.003.0010
This chapter propose a comparative approach based on natural ecology to the study of the evolutionary origins of human memory. This approach starts with the fact that it is difficult to describe human natural ecology given the nature of cultural evolution in humans. Much of what is described as cognition evolved culturally rather than through natural selection (e.g. the processes that underlie writing, cooking, and driving). The argument here is the best way to understand the likely path of human cognitive evolution is to examine comparative approaches to cognition in nonhuman primates that make use of the primates’ natural ecology. Literature is reviewed on how natural ecology predicts spatial learning and memory performance in birds and monkeys. This chapter examine if the primate work helps us to understand the pathway of human cognitive evolution, with attention to developing tasks that allow us to examine the survival processing effect across species.
