This is the first collection of articles completely and explicitly devoted to the new field of 'comparative developmental evolutionary psychology' - that is, to studies of primate abilities based on frameworks drawn from developmental psychology and evolutionary biology. These frameworks include Piagetian and neo-Piagetian models as well as psycholinguistic ones. The articles in this collection - originating in Japan, Spain, Italy, France, Canada and the United States - represent a variety of backgrounds in human and nonhuman primate research, including psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, cultural and physical anthropology, ethology, and comparative psychology. The book focuses on such areas as the nature of culture, intelligence, language, and imitation; the differences among species in mental abilities and developmental patterns; and the evolution of life histories and of mental abilities and their neurological bases. The species studied include the African grey parrot, cebus and macaque monkeys, gorillas, orangutans, and both common and pygmy chimpanzees.

Leaders in cognitive psychology, comparative biology, and neuroscience discuss patterns of convergence and divergence seen in studies of human and nonhuman primate brains. The extraordinary overlap between human and chimpanzee genomes does not result in an equal overlap between human and chimpanzee thoughts, sensations, perceptions, and emotions; there are considerable similarities but also considerable differences between human and nonhuman primate brains. From Monkey Brain to Human Brain uses the latest findings in cognitive psychology, comparative biology, and neuroscience to look at the complex patterns of convergence and divergence in primate cortical organization and function. Several chapters examine the use of modern technologies to study primate brains, analyzing the potentials and the limitations of neuroimaging as well as genetic and computational approaches. These methods, which can be applied identically across different species of primates, help to highlight the paradox of nonlinear primate evolution--the fact that major changes in brain size and functional complexity resulted from small changes in the genome. Other chapters identify plausible analogs or homologs in nonhuman primates for such human cognitive functions as arithmetic, reading, theory of mind, and altruism; examine the role of parietofrontal circuits in the production and comprehension of actions; analyze the contributions of the prefrontal and cingulate cortices to cognitive control; and explore to what extent visual recognition and visual attention are related in humans and other primates. The Fyssen Foundation is dedicated to encouraging scientific inquiry into the cognitive mechanisms that underlie animal and human behavior and has long sponsored symposia on topics of central importance to the cognitive sciences.

What can the study of young monkeys and apes tell us about the minds of young humans? In this fascinating introduction to the study of primate minds, Juan Carlos Gomez identifies evolutionary resemblances--and differences--between human children and other primates. He argues that primate minds are best understood not as fixed collections of specialized cognitive capacities, but more dynamically, as a range of abilities that can surpass their original adaptations. In a lively overview of a distinguished body of cognitive developmental research among nonhuman primates, Gomez looks at knowledge of the physical world, causal reasoning (including the chimpanzee-like errors that human children make), and the contentious subjects of ape language, theory of mind, and imitation. Attempts to teach language to chimpanzees, as well as studies of the quality of some primate vocal communication in the wild, make a powerful case that primates have a natural capacity for relatively sophisticated communication, and considerable power to learn when humans teach them. Gomez concludes that for all cognitive psychology's interest in perception, information-processing, and reasoning, some essential functions of mental life are based on ideas that cannot be explicitly articulated. Nonhuman and human primates alike rely on implicit knowledge. Studying nonhuman primates helps us to understand this perplexing aspect of all primate minds.

Imitation is an often-observed form of behavior that is beginning to attract widespread attention on the part of a variety of researchers. Imitative acts of newborn babies and development of imitation skills in later life have been discussed in a variety of scientific studies, but the large amount of observational and experimental data has been widely dispersed. There is a need for a synthetic study in which the results of this research can be analyzed and the neural mechanisms of imitation can be explored and established. "Imitation in Human and Animal Behavior "fulfills this need. This book presents an overview of a number of studies on imitative behavior of humans and animals, concentrating on selected cases of imitative behavior. The early chapters discuss the results of studies on humans, from ages of about one hour, to three years of age, and older. It has been shown, for example, that newborn babies under one hour old are already able to imitate simple facial gestures. There is a chapter devoted to the role of imitation in the cognitive development of children and adolescents, describing also the use of imitation as a method in the therapy of phobias. Finally, there is a section that concentrates on imitation related to the tragic social problem of suicide among adolescents and adults, including up-to-date statistical and clinical data. The second half of the book focuses on the data obtained in studies on feeding among animals, including examples of interspecies imitation. Newly hatched chicks, for instance, imitate their mother in selection of grain color; this is also true when the mother is replaced with an arrow-shaped object resembling a pecking beak. Included are observations on learning by imitation in rats, cats, and monkeys, offering some data related to learning by following the leader. The book also describes cases of inhibition of imitation in both humans and animals, including a clinical case in which imitative behavior was disrupted after surgery on prefrontal lobes of the brain. "Imitation in Human and Animal Behavior "is solidly rooted in observational and experimental data, discussing the possible neural mechanisms underlying imitative behavior. A hypothetical brain mechanism responsible for imitative behavior is proposed. "Imitation in Human and Animal Behavior "will be fascinating and enlightening reading for psychologists, neuroscientists, pediatricians, as well as nonprofessionals interested in behavior and development.

An interdisciplinary overview of current research on imitation in animals and artifacts.

This handbook provides a comprehensive survey of what is now known about psychological development, from birth to biological maturity, and it highlights how cultural, social, cognitive, neural, and molecular processes work together to yield human behavior and changes in human behavior.