On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience ReviewDespite the title of the book "On the Origin of the Human Mind" is not a complete presentation of evolutionary origin of the human brain and cognitive capacity. If it is what you are looking for, you better read David Bjorklund's book "The Origin of Mind" that is the best introduction to the subject to my knowledge. Dr. Vyshedskiy's book is subtitled " Three theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience". For a book of 168 pages it is a very ambitious program. In fact the book should be better seen as a collection of three essays loosely linked by a common theme: "mental synthesis".
Dr. Vyshedskiy starts from the question "What makes us human?" If we look at apes we find that they share with us many characteristics that many people think specifically human such as self awareness, displaying emotion, smiling, reading other apes' minds, using complex social codified behaviours, using tools and transmitting a limited acquired culture to their offspring. He also credits apes, and also bees, birds, whales, and dolphins, with a limited language, something very questionable (it depends on the definition of language that one uses). He also think that abstract thinking, defined as "the process of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon" is not specific to the human mind because "Vervet monkeys of East Africa have concept of leopard, snakes eagle and baboon"(pp. 16-7) (Here we might have a confusion between concept and representation). If language and abstract thinking do not make the difference, what will do it? Dr. Vyshedshiy's answer is "mental synthesis", something that Dr. Vyshedskiy thinks is a new theory but which has a number of things in common with other theories on the origin of language and rationality. Dr. Vyshedskiy defines mental synthesis as "the process of synthesizing a new, never-before-seen image from two or more mental images" (p. 22). Although animals are able to communicate, a chimp, for example, "cannot describe to another chimp a never-before-seen object because chimps cannot synthesize a new, never-before-seen image in their mind" (p.27). Without mental synthesis human language could never have arisen, and for that reason Dr. Vyshedskiy call human language "synthesizing language" (p. 28). The difference between non synthesizing languages and synthesizing language is that the former cannot create a new image in the listener's mind (p. 31). Animal can only learn to manipulate symbols or learn a limited number of word but they cannot use that capacity to solve problem or to plan actions. It is mental synthesis that allows us to analyse problems and to visually plan the action to be taken in our mind (p. 20). Here comes a very interesting development. Chimps can create and use tools, but the way they do it is fundamentally different from humans. For example a chimp can use a stick to fish termite. He needs to break a twig from a tree, remove the leaves and sharpen it with is teeth to shape it as a spear. The way he learns the process is by observing other apes doing it and learning the process by trial and error. It might take a chimp several months or even several years to master the whole process. The reason is that the chimp does not have a mental template of the tool. The way he learns is by remembering the actions that bring the reward through automated movements. "This long time frame of technique acquisition is similar to that is needed by humans to learn to play tennis, ski, ice-skate, play a musical instrument..." (p. 36). But when the chimps look at the stick they see only the stick. They do not see a tool and they do not have a concept of tool or even a concept of a stick for fishing termites. Here comes Dr. Vyshedskiy's theory of language: language is based on "mental synthesis" which must have evolved a long time before language appeared. Language allows human to plan their actions and to share the plan with other humans. In order to do that humans use "mental frames" which are "synthesized in the minds of the listeners" as "identical copies of the frames in the mind of the speaker. Thus the complex human language evolved to serve the purposes of synthesizing new images in the mind of the listeners" (p. 40). However pure mental synthesis is the absence of language remain possible (p. 42) and occur in different part of the brain.
In the second part of the book, Dr. Vyshedskiy tries to define when and how mental synthesis has appeared during human evolution. The origin of mental synthesis must be found in the development of the hominid's visual system. Because hominids could not compete in terms of strength and speed, when they started walking in the African savannah they had to develop a system of early recognition of predators. That new system was not based on recognition of the whole image like other animals, but on visual analysis consisting in decomposing a template of the predators in different components such as tail, ears, body, paws, etc., (pp. 75-6). Human became capable of assembling and dissembling mental image and that capacity is became the basis of mental analysis by generalizing of the mental process to other cognitive areas (p. 92). It also provides an interesting explanation of dreams and hallucinations (p. 153). In modern human, "visual analysis is primary a function of the left hemisphere and recognition of a whole object via amodal completion is primary a function of the right hemisphere" (pp. 76-7). "Improvement of the visual system in general and visual analysis in particular enable Homo habilis to manufacture the first stone choppers" because homo habilis had acquired " a mental template of a chopper"(p. 79-80). Homo habilis did not improve Oldowan tools for nearly a million year; Homo erectus erectus did not improve Acheulean tools for nearly two million years. The stasis in tool manufacturing can only be explained "by the limitation of the brain structure" (p. 80) (In my view it can also be explained by the absence of mirror neurons not yet developed). It is the refinement of the visual system that "drove the evolution of hominids" (p. 81). "Around 2.4 million years ago, the visual analysis system acquired elements of voluntary analysis" (p. 92) and 2 million years ago "the visual and prefrontal cortices developed significantly in Homo ergaster and Homo erectus" allowing "voluntarily dissecting the visual percept into fine details" (p.132). Development of the speech apparatus came later and was a consequence of a better visual system. "As hominids were able to separate more and more elements from the visual image, they needed more and more words to describe these elements" (p. 82). However it is only Homo sapiens that became fully able to synthesize mental image and to develop synthesizing language.
Part three of the book is more technical and tries to identify how mental image are formed at the neuronal level. It implies the solving by evolution of many technical problems such as neuronal synchronization (pp. 115-21) and the specialization of different areas in the prefrontal cortex (pp. 121-30). As those problems are covered by standard neuroscience literature I will not go into the details. Suffice is to say that the different part of a mental image are stored in different part of the brain and must be reassembled when the brain want to recall a memory (p. 107). This fact allows the synthezation of "never-before-seen image" by combining different components of different images. "The final step of the evolution of Homo was the acquisition of mental synthesis. About 100,000 years ago, the prefrontal cortex of Homo sapiens developed the capacity to synchronize several neuronal ensembles in one frame of consciousness" (p. 133).
I gave only three stars to the book for several reasons. (a) Mental synthesis is not a fully developed theory and more "work in process". The theory appears to be more an intuition that something solidly demonstrated. The author often gives the impression to be in hurry with no time for details. Facts that presented as "new" are sometimes known for decades. Scientific methodology is often weak. (b) The three part of the book are not integrated leading to overlap and repetition. (c) Dr. Vyshedskiy is obviously well versed in biology and neurosciences but does not seem to have any knowledge of development psychology, cognitive psychology and more important theories of the origin of language and rationality (evolutionary linguistic and psycholinguistic). (d) The book often lack in precise references for the facts and research quoted and therefore is difficult to use and to quote in an academic context. Despite all these flaws, in only 168 pages Dr. Vyshedskiy has achieved a very illuminating synthesis of a large array of scientific facts and produced a coherent theory of great interest. The theory might not be as new or as original as the author thinks, but there is an interesting convergence with other researches showing that the author might be close to truth. Whereas most theories in evolutionary linguistic put the emphasis on neuronal requirements for language, Dr. Vyshedskiy shows that the evolution of pre-linguistic cognitive capacity are as much vital as the evolution of linguistic capacity for understanding how modern human intellectual capability evolved. A more detailed and focussed book would be welcomed. I can only wish that Dr. Vyshedskiy, who apparently has accepted a management position in a R&R company, will return soon to academic life.
On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience Overview
Some of the most time-honored questions in philosophy, psychology, and neurosciencecenter on the uniqueness of the human mind. How do we think? What makes us sodifferent from all the other animals on planet Earth? What was the process thatcreated the human mind? Is this process unique or can it be repeated on otherplanets? The book "On the Origin of the Human Mind" attemptsto provide an answer to these questions. It is organized into three chapters:

Chapter I "Uniqueness of the Human Mind" introducesthe reader to recent research into animal behavior, communication, culture andlearning, as well as controlled animal intelligence experiments and offers anew hypothesis of what makes the human mind unique.

Chapter II "Evolution of the Human Mind" combines latestgenetics research and archeological discoveries to help readers understand hominidevolution. The author discusses the forces that influenced the development ofthe hominid intelligence and offers a step-by-step theory that links improvementin visual information processing to speech development and to the types of stonetools manufactured by the hominids.

Chapter III "The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience"takes the reader on an exciting journey into the neurobiology of the human mind.The author introduces the reader to the structure and function of the brainand then presents recent insights into brain organization derived from cognitivepsychology, brain imaging, animal experiments, and the studies of patients withdiseases of the brain. The book concludes with a unifying theory of the mindand a discussion of the evolution of the human brain and the uniqueness of thehuman mind from the neurological perspective.

Audience The book speaks best to readers who want to approach the mind from a scientificperspective. The book is written in easy-to-read engaging style. No previousknowledge in psychology, paleoanthropology, or neuroscience is necessary.

Hardcover edition The book is illustrated and printed in full-color.


Want to learn more information about On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Evolution of Mind Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Evolution of Mind? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Evolution of Mind. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Evolution of Mind ReviewOffering an eclectic interdisciplinary review of thoughts on the evolution of mind, this volume provides ten provocative and well referenced essays from a range of perspectives. Most of the contributors provide discussions of species-comparative data and are sympathetic to some form of Darwinian evolutionary framework. However, although not always explicitly stated, only four of them allude to the importance of ontogenetic development (of individuals) as well as to the phylogenetic evolution of species adapting to the constraints imposed by their respective environments. Many writers on this topic give up when reaching the seemingly great continuity impasse -thereafter holding the advent of language or linguistically-mediated behaviour to account for the differences found between human mental life and that of other animals. However, this is to account for little with regards the evolution of comparative animal cognition (Dickinson, 1997). Even if such linguistic tools as object and event referents may be ripe for their scaffolding subsequent categorizations leading to the production of our particular brand of human thought, it remains open to empirical analysis whether, and to what extent, other species might be capable of experiencing reflective levels of ideational abstraction. Bloom (in Ch.8 of this volume) addresses this issue directly when he argues that language and the non-linguistic aspects of mental life have distinct evolutionary histories. His is a very welcome contribution to a field often dominated by authors blind to drawing the important distinction "...that language is an excellent tool for information transfer.. [but also for making].. the much stronger claim that language explains people's ability to understand or generate this information in the first place".
Somewhat refreshingly, this volume includes a number of such contributions which, although not mutually exclusive of the above position, provoke discussion of the issue of mind's evolution from an unexpected focus. For example, Gigerenzer (Ch.1) starts the book with a short lesson in Bayesian mathematics. However, the message here is not that a better understanding of math leads inevitably to better minds and logical ability per se. Ecological (situated) intelligence derives from the need to deal with uncertainty - and one should therefore expect an evolving system to best cope with tasks represented in a way comparable to those successfully encountered in the past. To cite Gigerenzer's own example, the use of natural frequencies (i.e., numerical counts of actual objects or events) should be 'easier' to process/evaluate than percentages, odds or the single-event probability of occurrence. Evidence from novice Vs expert practitioner problem-solving experiments are given and lend support to this argument. These findings might be of as much relevance to the planning of education programs in my view (for developing the individual mind), as might they be for our understanding the evolution of mind in general. Cummins (Ch.2) argues for the evolution of mind to have its genesis in animals ability to reason about dominance hierarchies in social contexts. Citing the current literature concerning relative brain sizes and a variety of social dynamic contrasts, Cummins eloquently addresses the social foundations of cognition, but little else is new here. Indeed, given the use of the term 'pecking order' to describe knowing one's own place in the hierarchy, it was a pity that no mention of differential bird brain morphology was made (for more concerning bird brains, see below). Most of the examples given in this chapter are drawn from observations of primate social lives. The provocative sting in the tail, however, was not that clever methods of overcoming simultaneous chaining problems of the type A>B>C>D lead to smartness in species requiring hierarchical management skills. Cummins reminds us that the smart mind more likely evolved to allow one to overcome the constraints inherent in maintaining an existing dominance hierarchy (i.e., to be in a position to predict the dynamics, and then to successfully cheat, undetected).
One of the recurrent themes throughout this book is first found in Hauser & Carey (Ch.3) and concerns the problem of interpreting the findings of cross-species comparative cognitive work. They do well to reiterate that although clear behavioural differences might frequently be obtainable given the right task environment, it is not always clear whether such differences arise from difficulties with performance or ability. As for their own chosen distinction criteria for distinguishing between human and non-human animal minds, they propose a dichotomy of theories of mind: whereas any number of species might be said to possess a theory of mind as indexed by their exhibition of goal-directed action, humans also possess intention, and the belief that such intentional goal-directed actions be determinable in the (2nd or 3rd order) mental behaviour of others. However, apart from some rather anecdotal reportage from the recent literature, Hauser & Carey rightly note that there is as yet no empirical data which addresses this issue directly. This point follows their earlier discussion of the validity of comparative data for the purposes of discerning the presence of representations in non-human animals. There, Hauser alluded to the fact that although the assumptions underlying our notion of representational equivalency will often lead one to make positive reports of its occurrence, such equivalencies by themselves are not necessarily the firmest existence proofs as may be achievable with the right task architecture (see, for example, the discussion of sortal object numeracy). Wynn (Ch. 4) provides us with further evidence for the ability of a variety of species to enumerate collections of objects. She argues for an "accumulator" (abacus-like) model of sorts, but remains redescriptive of counting, rather than putting forward any explanatory functional mechanisms to account. However, what this chapter does address is of great importance for the evolutionary concerns of the volume. Wynn proposes that numerical abilities might be the result of the fine-tuning of adaptive processes for determining optimal foraging patterns, habitat, food-return trade-offs and for tracking sets of objects (including conspecifics) over time and space. Constraints nonetheless apply to the widespread adaptive utility of the capacity for more complex number processing. As evidenced by pre-linguistic failure, our ability to cope with division, squaring, integration, multiple summation and integral calculus is virtually nil prior to the development of our post-linguistic, symbolic processing. An astute observation, but again, one wonders what explanatory value such an observation might afford ? As with so many evolutionary arguments made for the development of language and the mind, critical explanations are often avoided or mislaid altogether. For example. Hauser & Carey (Ch.3) relay to us the rather tongue in cheek comment attributed to David Premack that "... even if chickens had syntax, they¹d have nothing interesting to say..", but this is to miss the more salient fact (in my view) that domestic chickens have been very selectively bred over time in rather impoverished husbandry conditions for the production of high meat/low fat muscle and high proteinatious egg yield - a situation leaving little in its environment to provoke high levels of adaptive cerebral or intellectual challenge in an otherwise wild species. Arguably more direct, we read from Allen & Saidel (Ch.7) that the more important issue concerning language is not so much with what language IS or might be, but with what it can DO for language communicators. Putting forward three exemplar categories of referents, each subsequently more arbitrarily referential than the previous (object presence, proxy and conceptual referents), the authors argue that reference to behaviours and events may be primitive to our making reference to objects. Of more direct relevance for our better understanding of the evolution of mind (and what cognition might "be for"), evidence from object motion studies in a variety of animals are cited in support of the view that event-related, rather than object-related stimuli evoke stronger responses in non-linguistic tasks. This last discussion addresses much of concern also to Ristau (Ch.5) who quite rightly points out some of the recurrent difficulties of comparative psychology in settling the species-difference issues. We are reminded that ecological validity and the need for species-specific experimental situations continue to confound interpretations of otherwise interesting work. And coming to distinguish between whether an animal really "knows" something to be true, as opposed to being seen to behave "as if s/he should know", is again not merely an existence-proof issue. The onus is on the experimenter to develop an explanation according to some more adaptive, biologically-based, functionally-reinforced behThe Evolution of Mind OverviewOur understanding of the human mind has radically changed in recent years--from the unified mind once envisioned by René Descartes over three hundred years ago to a new understanding of mind as a set of specialized cognitive components gradually accumulated in our evolutionary past. As a result, many scientists and philosophers now believe that our minds emerged out of the same type of evolutionary processes that have shaped our bodies. InThe Evolution of Mind, outstanding figures on the cutting edge of evolutionary psychology follow clues provided by current neuroscientific evidence to illuminate many puzzling questions of human cognitive evolution. With contributions from psychologists, ethologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, the book offers a broad range of approaches to explore the mysteries of the minds evolution--from investigating the biological functions of human cognition to drawing comparisons between human and animal cognitive abilities. This interdisciplinary work presents a comparative and evolutionary perspective on a wide variety of topics, including mental algorithms for reasoning about contingencies, quantities, social norms, and the minds of others; social play and communicative abilities; thought and language, and the role of Darwin's theory of natural selection in evolutionary psychology. Written in a highly readable style, The Evolution of Mind will appeal to a broad range ofresearchers and students and help set the agenda for the field for years to come.

Want to learn more information about The Evolution of Mind?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness ReviewDonald Griffen was the first scientist to challenge the reductionist notion that animals are incapable of cognition (the word for thinking in non-human animals), in 1985, and thus he founded the science of cognitive ethology.
This book, and the earlier version released in 1994, provide a range of reports of eye-witness accounts of behaviour by animals that could not have been performed without mental referencing (or thought), along with his brilliant analyses and discussion of the meaning of each.
Though well received by the public, the works of Professor Griffin were widely criticized by the scientific community because his assertions were difficult to prove, and because his views represented a reversal of the currently held belief that animals were unconscious automatons. However, more and more evidence is appearing in the scientific literature in support of his pioneering work, and proving him to be right.
This book is unequalled in presenting a scientific argument that animals, invertebrates as well as the so-called "higher" animals, are capable, each in a unique way, of cognition. The latest version of the work includes arguments in response to criticisms of the original.Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness Overview

Want to learn more information about Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...