The Thinking Ape: Evolutionary Origins of Intelligence

Rating:
Summary: Thoughts on thinking
Review: Byrne presents an outstanding summary of the research tracing the roots of human intelligence. He begins by noting the problem of describing the evolution of human intelligence from fossil remains. Thoughts don't leave fossils, but many "popular" accounts of human evolution are full of speculations about the development of human cognition. The stories presented, according to Byrne, are frequently contradictory. What is the careful reader able to believe? Byrne accepts the necessity of competing speculations. After all, "detective work is fun." Byrne stresses that there are answers available. The evidence comes from the behaviour of other animals.

He begins with a lesson in taxonomy, those bushy diagrams relating the place of humans with our fellow creatures. He argues that every animal is born with innate behavioural traits - there are no "blank slates" on which cognition must be built. As Byrne puts it: "Genetically channeled learning is evidently a powerful and efficient tool for giving animals what they need to survive." As animals hone derived skills and develop new ones, new levels of cognition arise. If these can be passed on, the result is higher levels of intelligence. Limited only by how much a species can carry over to new generations, the process is recursive.

Byrne examines many levels of learning, particularly food seeking and memory in both field and laboratory. His description of monkeys seeking ways of obtaining food from a plastic tube make one wonder how long a monkey would persist in probing for hard-to-reach food in the wild. Surely, the frustrations the monkeys were forced to endure would rarely occur in the wild. A hungry monkey would simply move on to another site. Their skills in the wild are impressive enough. Byrne describes many species, particularly chimpanzees and orang-utans learning the seasonal locations of many plant foods and applying the most energy efficient routes to obtain it. He stresses that "Learning mechanisms are best regarded as devices for ensuring that animals learn adaptive information." All these studies lead, of course, that humans are driven by the same genetic forces as our fellow creatures.

Byrne reviews the many studies done with various monkey and ape species. There are few consistent patterns among them. Some monkeys attain high social and cognitive skills for particular environments. Some species attain surprising levels of reception, adaptation in dealing with available food, reaction to predators, interactions with their fellows. From these studies in both the field and laboratory, he argues that "in a limited way, great apes can think."

Many studies in the evolution of human cognition stress our use of symbols as the foundation of language skills. Byrne argues that many apes have learned symbols, but notes that this skill is limited to practical applications. They can apply symbols to seek things which are then immediately put to use. The limitation in these linguistic abilities is "grammar." Byrne's discussion of ape "language" and "grammar" is comprehensive and thorough. Most significant, according to Byrne, is the different levels of language skill achieved by various individual apes. The lack of uniform patterns in language use indicates no universal rules should be applied to ape learning. The ability is there, but varies from one ape to another.

In the final analysis, Byrne stresses the support given intelligence by social interaction. Brain size is a factor, he argues, but size must be correlated with other factors. Byrne's use of various studies give this contention strong support. He relates studies showing that enlargement of the neocortex is observed in large ape species who range over extensive areas. He traces a new lineage on our evolutionary path from primitive mammals through large-brained, rapidly-learning species to linguistic species. The gaps among "the thinking primates are bridgeable." It's a compelling argument, forcefully and effectively presented.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughts on thinking
Review: Byrne presents an outstanding summary of the research tracing the roots of human intelligence. He begins by noting the problem of describing the evolution of human intelligence from fossil remains. Thoughts don't leave fossils, but many "popular" accounts of human evolution are full of speculations about the development of human cognition. The stories presented, according to Byrne, are frequently contradictory. What is the careful reader able to believe? Byrne accepts the necessity of competing speculations. After all, "detective work is fun." Byrne stresses that there are answers available. The evidence comes from the behaviour of other animals.

He begins with a lesson in taxonomy, those bushy diagrams relating the place of humans with our fellow creatures. He argues that every animal is born with innate behavioural traits - there are no "blank slates" on which cognition must be built. As Byrne puts it: "Genetically channeled learning is evidently a powerful and efficient tool for giving animals what they need to survive." As animals hone derived skills and develop new ones, new levels of cognition arise. If these can be passed on, the result is higher levels of intelligence. Limited only by how much a species can carry over to new generations, the process is recursive.

Byrne examines many levels of learning, particularly food seeking and memory in both field and laboratory. His description of monkeys seeking ways of obtaining food from a plastic tube make one wonder how long a monkey would persist in probing for hard-to-reach food in the wild. Surely, the frustrations the monkeys were forced to endure would rarely occur in the wild. A hungry monkey would simply move on to another site. Their skills in the wild are impressive enough. Byrne describes many species, particularly chimpanzees and orang-utans learning the seasonal locations of many plant foods and applying the most energy efficient routes to obtain it. He stresses that "Learning mechanisms are best regarded as devices for ensuring that animals learn adaptive information." All these studies lead, of course, that humans are driven by the same genetic forces as our fellow creatures.

Byrne reviews the many studies done with various monkey and ape species. There are few consistent patterns among them. Some monkeys attain high social and cognitive skills for particular environments. Some species attain surprising levels of reception, adaptation in dealing with available food, reaction to predators, interactions with their fellows. From these studies in both the field and laboratory, he argues that "in a limited way, great apes can think."

Many studies in the evolution of human cognition stress our use of symbols as the foundation of language skills. Byrne argues that many apes have learned symbols, but notes that this skill is limited to practical applications. They can apply symbols to seek things which are then immediately put to use. The limitation in these linguistic abilities is "grammar." Byrne's discussion of ape "language" and "grammar" is comprehensive and thorough. Most significant, according to Byrne, is the different levels of language skill achieved by various individual apes. The lack of uniform patterns in language use indicates no universal rules should be applied to ape learning. The ability is there, but varies from one ape to another.

In the final analysis, Byrne stresses the support given intelligence by social interaction. Brain size is a factor, he argues, but size must be correlated with other factors. Byrne's use of various studies give this contention strong support. He relates studies showing that enlargement of the neocortex is observed in large ape species who range over extensive areas. He traces a new lineage on our evolutionary path from primitive mammals through large-brained, rapidly-learning species to linguistic species. The gaps among "the thinking primates are bridgeable." It's a compelling argument, forcefully and effectively presented.