%0 Journal Article
%A Haun, Daniel B. M.
%A Rapold, Christian J.
%A Call, Josep
%A Janzen, Gabriele
%A Levinson, Stephen C.
%+ Evolutionary Roots of Human Social Interaction, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Max Planck Research Group for Comparative Cognitive Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Cognitive cladistics and cultural override in Hominid spatial cognition : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0010-00CE-6
%F EDOC: 299030
%R 10.1073/pnas.0607999103 
%7 2006-11-01
%D 2006
%8 14.11.2006
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X Current approaches to human cognition often take a strong nativist stance based on Western adult performance, backed up where possible by neonate and infant research and almost never by comparative research across the Hominidae. Recent research suggests considerable cross-cultural differences in cognitive strategies, including relational thinking, a domain where infant research is impossible because of lack of cognitive maturation. Here, we apply the same paradigm across children and adults of different cultures and across all nonhuman great ape genera. We find that both child and adult spatial cognition systematically varies with language and culture but that, nevertheless, there is a clear inherited bias for one spatial strategy in the great apes. It is reasonable to conclude, we argue, that language and culture mask the native tendencies in our species. This cladistic approach suggests that the correct perspective on human cognition is neither nativist uniformitarian nor “blank slate” but recognizes the powerful impact that language and culture can have on our shared primate cognitive biases.
%K cognitive evolution; cultural differences; great apes
%J Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
%V 103
%N 46
%& 17568
%P 17568 - 17573
%I National Academy of Sciences
%C Washington, D.C.
%@ 0027-84241091-6490