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Rating: 
Summary: Does for theory what the 1988 volume did for ethnography
Review: Collected as a self-conscious extension of the 1988 work edited by Byrne and Whiten, "Machiavellian Intelligence: Social Expertise and the Evolution of Intellect in Monkeys, Apes, and Humans," this volume contains 14 articles. In spite of the explosion of empirical research sparked by the 1988 volume, this collection does not emphasize a review of this new work. Instead, one is left with the impression that this collection is heavily weighted toward theory and speculation.My evaluation of this collection is that it contains less extension and more refinement of the 1988 presentation. The contributions in this volume tend to limit the grosser conclusions of the earlier work while refining the Machiavellian intelligence concept more precisely. Only a few of the articles warrant specific note, in my opinion. I found Hauser's article on deception to be of value, especially in its careful distinction between functional and intentional deception. Whiten's review of theory of mind research holds promise for anyone interested in that subject. The three empirical articles, Russon's on exploiting expertise, Menzel's on foraging, and Barton and Dunbar on encephalization quotients, also make significant contributions. New theoretical speculations regarding evolutionary triggers include brain modularity, technical expertise, sexual competition, and language left me wishing for more data and less speculation. Only the Boehm chapter on egalitarian behavior and intelligence seemed to warrant a second reading. My advice is to skip this book and go straight to Sternberg and Kaufman's collection "The Evolution of Human Intelligence" (2001) or Corballis and Lea's "The Descent of Mind" (1999).
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