scholarly journals New indices to characterize drawing behavior in humans (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lison Martinet ◽  
Cédric Sueur ◽  
Satoshi Hirata ◽  
Jérôme Hosselet ◽  
Tetsuro Matsuzawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Ontogenetic Development ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Spatial Measures ◽  
Development And Evolution ◽  
Cave Art ◽  
Drawing Skills

AbstractTechniques used in cave art suggest that drawing skills emerged long before the oldest known representative human productions (44,000 years bc). This study seeks to improve our knowledge of the evolutionary origins and the ontogenetic development of drawing behavior by studying drawings of humans (N = 178, 3- to 10-year-old children and adults) and chimpanzees (N = 5). Drawings were characterized with an innovative index based on spatial measures which provides the degree of efficiency for the lines that are drawn. Results showed that this index was lowest in chimpanzees, increased and reached its maximum between 5-year-old and 10-year-old children and decreased in adults, whose drawing efficiency was reduced by the addition of details. Drawings of chimpanzees are not random suggesting that their movements are constrained by cognitive or locomotor aspect and we cannot conclude to the absence of representativeness. We also used indices based on colors and time and asked children about what they drew. These indices can be considered relevant tools to improve our understanding of drawing development and evolution in hominids.

scholarly journals The Superior Visual Perception Hypothesis: Neuroaesthetics of Cave Art

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Per Olav Folgerø ◽  
Christer Johansson ◽  
Linn Heidi Stokkedal
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Animal Movement ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Brain Anatomy ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Cave Art

Cave Art in the Upper Paleolithic presents a boost of creativity and visual thinking. What can explain these savant-like paintings? The normal brain function in modern man rarely supports the creation of highly detailed paintings, particularly the convincing representation of animal movement, without extensive training and access to modern technology. Differences in neuro-signaling and brain anatomy between modern and archaic Homo sapiens could also cause differences in perception. The brain of archaic Homo sapiens could perceive raw detailed information without using pre-established top-down concepts, as opposed to the common understanding of the normal modern non-savant brain driven by top-down control. Some ancient genes preserved in modern humans may be expressed in rare disorders. Researchers have compared Cave Art with art made by people with autism spectrum disorder. We propose that archaic primary consciousness, as opposed to modern secondary consciousness, included a savant-like perception with a superior richness of details compared to modern man. Modern people with high frequencies of Neanderthal genes, have notable anatomical features such as increased skull width in the occipital and parietal visual areas. We hypothesize that the anatomical differences are functional and may allow a different path to visual perception.

Aping humans: Age and sex effects in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and human (Homo sapiens) personality.

2008 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. King ◽  
Alexander Weiss ◽  
Melissa M. Sisco
Keyword(s):  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Sex Effects ◽  
Age And Sex

The Enhanced Working Memory Model

2019 ◽  
pp. 406-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick L. Coolidge
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Genetic Event ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Temporal Sequencing ◽  
Cave Paintings ◽  
Cognitive Consequence ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Multicomponent Model

This chapter traces the origins and currents of Frederick Coolidge’s collaborations with archaeologist Thomas Wynn. It begins with their first article, in 2001, in which they traced a cultural explosion some 50,000 years ago in the archaeological record (as attested by the appearance of things like cave paintings, highly ritualized burials, depictive figurines) to enhanced executive functions (i.e., temporal sequencing, inhibition, planning, and organization) that perhaps resulted from an earlier genetic or epigenetic event not shared by Neandertals. As evidence of enhanced executive functioning in Homo sapiens, Wynn and Coolidge offered barbed points from Katanda, bow-and-arrow technology, agriculture, and the colonization of the Sahul. In their more recent papers, they labeled the cognitive consequence of this genetic event enhanced working memory, thus incorporating their ideas into Baddeley’s multicomponent model of working memory. The chapter ends with speculations on the evolutionary origins of learning and memory systems, looking back to the very beginnings of life on earth.

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