Beyond the Brain

Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-0-691-12644-9
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 304 Seiten, Format (B × H): 167 mm x 243 mm, Gewicht: 558 g

When a chimpanzee stockpiles rocks as weapons or when a frog sends out mating calls, we might easily assume these animals know their own motivations--that they use the same psychological mechanisms that we do. But as Beyond the Brain indicates, this is a dangerous assumption because animals have different evolutionary trajectories, ecological niches, and physical attributes. How do these differences influence animal thinking and behavior? Removing our human-centered spectacles, Louise Barrett investigates the mind and brain and offers an alternative approach for understanding animal and human cognition. Drawing on examples from animal behavior, comparative psychology, robotics, artificial life, developmental psychology, and cognitive science, Barrett provides remarkable new insights into how animals and humans depend on their bodies and environment--not just their brains--to behave intelligently. Barrett begins with an overview of human cognitive adaptations and how these color our views of other species, brains, and minds. Considering when it is worth having a big brain--or indeed having a brain at all--she investigates exactly what brains are good at. Showing that the brain's evolutionary function guides action in the world, she looks at how physical structure contributes to cognitive processes, and she demonstrates how these processes employ materials and resources in specific environments. Arguing that thinking and behavior constitute a property of the whole organism, not just the brain, Beyond the Brain illustrates how the body, brain, and cognition are tied to the wider world.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barrett, Louise

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Neurobiologie, Verhaltensbiologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Tierkunde / Zoologie Tierethologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Humanbiologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments ix

Chapter 1: Removing Ourselves from the Picture 1

Chapter 2: The Anthropomorphic Animal 20

Chapter 3: Small Brains, Smart Behavior 39

Chapter 4: The Implausible Nature of Portia 57

Chapter 5: When Do You Need a Big Brain? 71

Chapter 6: The Ecology of Psychology 94

Chapter 7: Metaphorical Mind Fields 112

Chapter 8: There Is No Such Thing as a Naked Brain 135

Chapter 9: World in Action 152

Chapter 10: Babies and Bodies 175

Chapter 11: Wider than the Sky 197

Epilogue 223

Notes 225

References 251

Index 269

Über Autor(innen)

Barrett, Louise
Louise Barrett is a professor in the psychology department at the University of Lethbridge. She is the author of Baboons and the coauthor of "Cousins", "Walking with Cavemen", "Human Evolutionary Psychology", and "Evolutionary Psychology".