Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

The evolution of cognition as the evolution of high order control

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Christensen, Wayne (2016) The evolution of cognition as the evolution of high order control. In: Workshop on approaches to variation and stability in contemporary biology, Sydney University, Australia, 26-27 May 2015.

Research output not available from this repository.

Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

The evolution of cognition is often conceptualised in terms of the evolutionary appearance of key cognitive abilities, which are thought of as unitary traits. Most attention has been focused on advanced cognitive abilities such as imitation, theory of mind, episodic­like memory, tool use and language. As an alternative I advocate a systems approach that focuses on the evolution of sensorimotor architectures and which emphasises deep continuity in the evolution of cognition. This approach has similarities to, and connections with, evo­devo. I present a theory of the evolution of cognition based on this approach, which proposes that the evolution of cognition is fundamentally the evolution of a particular kind of architecture characterised by high   order   control.   I   outline   a   model   of   this   architecture,   characterise   the evolutionary processes by which it is elaborated, and show how its elaboration gives rise to increasingly complex cognitive properties. I then argue that the model is consistent with key features of the evolution of metazoan neural architectures. Finally, I compare the account to two more specific proposals: the hypothesis that the evolutionary roots of cognitive control lie in the control of spatial foraging, and the hypothesis that the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities in great apes is based on extractive foraging. I argue that both these accounts can be subsumed within the high order control theory.

Item Type: Conference Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy
Official Date: May 2016
Dates:
DateEvent
May 2016Completion
Status: Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Title of Event: Workshop on approaches to variation and stability in contemporary biology
Type of Event: Workshop
Location of Event: Sydney University, Australia
Date(s) of Event: 26-27 May 2015.

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item
twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us