Kathleen R. Gibson - Böcker

In The Oxford Handbook of Language Evolution, sixty leading scholars present critical accounts of every aspect of the field. The Volume's five parts are devoted to insights from comparative animal behaviour; the biology of language evolution (anatomy, genetics, and neurology); the prehistory of language (when and why did language evolve?); the development of a linguistic species; and language creation, transmission, and change.Research on language evolution has burgeoned over the last three decades. Interdisciplinary activity has produced fundamental advances in the understanding of language evolution and in human and primate evolution more generally. This book presents a wide-ranging summation of work in all the disciplines involved. It highlights the links in different lines of research, shows what has been achieved to date, and considers the most promising directions for future work. The Oxford Handbook of Language Evolution will be valued by everyone interested in one of the most productive and fascinating fields in natural and cognitive science.

In The Oxford Handbook of Language Evolution, sixty leading scholars present critical accounts of every aspect of the field. Its five parts are devoted to insights from comparative animal behaviour; the biology of language evolution; the prehistory of language; the development of a linguistic species; and language creation, transmission, and change. Research on language evolution has burgeoned over the last three decades. Interdisciplinary activity has produced fundamental advances in the understanding of language evolution and in the evolution of human andanimal communication more generally. This book presents a wide-ranging summation of work in all the disciplines involved. It highlights the links between different lines of research, shows what has been achieved, and considers promising directions for the future. The Oxford Handbook of Language Evolution will be valued by everyone interested in one of the most productive and fascinating fields in natural and cognitive science.

Social learning commonly refers to the social transfer of information and skill among individuals. It encompasses a wide range of behaviours that include where and how to obtain food, how to interact with members of one's own social group, and to identify and respond appropriately to predators. The behaviour of experienced individuals provides natural sources of information, by which inexperienced individuals may learn about the opportunities and hazards of their environment, and develop and modify their own behaviour as a result. A wide diversity of species is discussed in this book, some of which have never been discussed in this context before, and particular reference is made to their natural life strategies. Social learning in humans is also considered by comparison with other mammals, especially in their technological and craft traditions. Moreover, a discussion is included of the social learning abilities of prehistoric hominids.

Studies of brain evolution have moved rapidly in recent years, building on the pioneering research of Harry J. Jerison. This book provides reviews of primate (including human) brain evolution. The book is divided into two sections, the first gives new perspectives on the developmental, physiological, dietary and behavioural correlates of brain enlargement. It has long been recognized, however, that brains do not merely enlarge globally as they evolve, but that their cortical and internal organization also changes in a process known as reorganization. Species-specific adaptations therefore have neurological substrates that depend on more than just overall brain size. The second section explores these neurological underpinnings for the senses, adaptations and cognitive abilities that are important for primates. With a prologue by Stephen J. Gould and an epilogue by Harry J. Jerison, this is an important reference work for all those working on brain evolution in primates.

The question addressed by this volume is how human beings have evolved as creatures who can make and use more complex tools, communicate in more complex ways and engage in more complex forms of social life than any other species in the animal kingdom. Leading researchers from fields as diverse as biological and social anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, neurology and ethology have come together to present a unique interdisciplinary study of this central question in human evolution. The topics explored include the parallels between speech, manual gesture and other modes of communication; comparisons of the tool-using skills and imitative abilities of humans and non-human primates and the neurological links between the cognitive processes involved in language. This important volume will be essential reading for all those interested in human evolution, be they philosophers, humanists or scientists.

Social learning commonly refers to the social transfer of information and skill among individuals. It encompasses a wide range of behaviours that include where and how to obtain food, how to interact with members of one's own social group, and to identify and respond appropriately to predators. The behaviour of experienced individuals provides natural sources of information, by which inexperienced individuals may learn about the opportunities and hazards of their environment, and develop and modify their own behaviour as a result. A wide diversity of species is discussed in this book, some of which have never been discussed in this context before, and particular reference is made to their natural life strategies. Social learning in humans is also considered by comparison with other mammals, especially in their technological and craft traditions. Moreover, a discussion is included of the social learning abilities of prehistoric hominids.