Psych W3450y. Evolution of Intelligence and
Consciousness
3 pts. H. Terrace. SPR '00 Hours to be arranged.
Prerequisite: PSYC W1001 or W1010 and the instructor's permission.
A systematic review of the implications of Darwin’s theory of
evolution and Freud’s theory of the unconscious for modern
contemporary studies of animal and human cognition.
Overview. Research on animal cognition during the latter half of
the 20th century has
shown that traditional models of behavior are too weak to explain animal
intelligence. The exclusive focus of such models on various types conditioned
reflexes constrains their ability to account for the complexities of animal
memory or the structure of animal concepts, -to cite but two widely studied
examples of animal cognition. The goal of this seminar is to characterize
discoveries about the cognitive abilities of animals in the perspective of
evolutionary theory and contemporary views of human cognition.
After reviewing recent research on animal cognition, the seminar will consider
precursors of human cognition, in particular, cognitive processes that do not
require linguistic ability. A related topic is the difference between human
language and systems of communication that are available to animals. Those
differences pose the basic theme of the seminar, how do animals think without
language? To answer that question we will consider theories that have
attempted to characterize the difference between conscious and unconscious
thought and the role of unconscious cognitive processes in both humans and
animals.
Course Requirements
Students will be required to make one major and one minor presentation on
topics related to the seminar (see below). All students will have a take home exam that
will be due on the last day of class.
Evolution of Intelligence and Consciousness
Outline of Discussion Topics
I. Historical Background
- Implications of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution for Experimental
Psychology
- Comparative psychology
- From the anecdotal method to behaviorism
- Romanes, Loeb, Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson, Skinner
- Dominance of behaviorism during first half of 20th century
in both animal and human psychology
- Functional and structural approaches in psychology
- Implications of Freud’s Theory of the Unconscious for
Experimental Psychology
- Definitions of consciousness and unconsciousness
- Assumption of rational philosophy that thought is conscious
- The theory of the unconscious as applied to traditional subject matter
of psychology
- Significance of introspection as a tool in experimental
psychology
II. Emergence of cognitive psychology during latter half of
20th century
- Critiques of behaviorism
- The computer as a metaphor of the mind
- The Turing test
- The "Chinese Room" argument
- Psycholinguistics
III. Animal cognition and comparative studies of intelligence
- Simple vs. complex learning
- Inferences about representation
- Animal communication
- Self-recognition studies
- Teaching language to animals
IV. Unconscious human minds
- Unconscious learning
- Conditioning
- Judgments of contingencies
- Implicit learning
- Unconscious perception
- Unconscious inference
- Blindsight
V. Language and thought
- Role of language in conscious thought
- Role of language in unconscious thought
- Infantile amnesia
- Role of language in recall
VI. Theories of the development of consciousness
- Role of socialization
- Contribution of a "theory of mind"
VII. Conscious & Unconscious Minds and Machines
- Is neuroscience relevant?
- Anti-reductionism
- Neurophilosophy
- Consciousness and complexity
- Intentionality
Reading List
Cummins, D.-D. A., Colin (Ed.). (1998). The Evolution of Mind. New York,
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Deacon, T. W. (1997). The Symbolic Species. New York: W. W. Norton & Company
Donald, M. (1991). Origins of the modern mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Griffin, D. R. (1992). Animal Minds. Chicago and London: University of Chica
Press.
Hauser, M. D. (1996). The Evolution of Communication. Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Press.
Mithen, S. (1996). The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art,
Religion, and Science. London: Thames and Hudson.
Nelson, K. (1996). Language in Cognitive Development. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Pinker, S. (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, London: W. W. Norton &
Company.
Plotkin, H. (1997). Evolution in Mind: An Introduction to Evolutionary
Psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York, NY: Macmillan.