Mental travels and the cognitive basis of language

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 352-369
Author(s):  
Michael C. Corballis
Keyword(s):  
Critical Period ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Mental Time Travel ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Critical Feature ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Development Of Language

Abstract I argue that a critical feature of language that distinguishes it from animal communication is displacement, the means to communicate about the non-present. This implies a capacity for mental travels in time and space, which is the ability to call to mind past episodes, imagine future ones or purely fictitious ones, and locate them in different places. While mental travel in time, in particular, is often considered to be unique to humans, behavioral and neurophysiological evidence suggests that it is evident in some form, at least, in nonhuman animals, including rodents, and may go far back in the evolution of animals that move. The linguistic capacity to share experiences that transcend space and time evolved much more recently, accelerating during the Pleistocene with increasing demands for effective cooperation and long-distance planning. The expansion of mental time travel probably co-evolved with the development of language itself, because the sharing of memories, plans, and stories vastly added to our own individual experiences. From this perspective, the critical period of the Road Map runs from the emergence of the genus Homo around 2 million years ago to the present.

An Evolutionary Perspective on Mental Time Travel

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Suddendorf
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Deliberate Practice ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Mental Time Travel ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Scenario Building ◽  
Memory Traces ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Archeological Evidence

This article examines the nature and evolution of mental time travel. Evidence for capacities in other animals is reviewed and evaluated in terms of which components of the human faculty appear to be shared and which are unique. While some nonhuman animals store episodic memory traces and can display a range of future-directed capacities, they do not appear to share the open-ended ability to construct mental scenarios, to embed them into larger narratives, nor to reflect and communicate on what they entail. Nested scenario building and the urge to exchange mental experiences seem to set human minds apart in this context as in many others. The article ends with a discussion of the archeological evidence for mental time travel, focusing on deliberate practice as an example of its tremendous fitness consequences.

Animal Learning and Cognition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Beran
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Comparative Psychology ◽  
Mental Time Travel ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Capacities ◽  
Knowledge States ◽  
Nonhuman Animals

Comparative psychology is the study of behavior and cognition across species. In recent decades, much of this research has focused on cognitive capacities that are well studied in humans. This approach provides comparative perspectives on the evolution of these cognitive capacities. Although in many areas humans shows distinct aspects of various cognitive processes, it is clear that for most major topics in human cognition, important and illustrative data are available from studies with other animals. Moreover, these areas of investigation increasingly show continuities between the behavior of other species and human behavior. Several of these cognitive processes, including concept and category learning, numerical cognition, memory, mental time travel and prospective cognition, metacognition, and language learning, highlight these continuities and demonstrate the richness of mental lives in other animals. Nonhuman animals can discriminate between categories of perceptual and conceptual classes, they can form concepts, and they can use those concepts to guide decision making and choice behavior. Other species can engage in rudimentary numerical cognition, and more importantly share with humans certain core quantitative abilities for the approximate representation of magnitude and number. Nonhuman animals share many phenomena of memory that are well-recognized in humans, and in some cases may even share the capacity to mentally re-experience the past and to anticipate and plan for the future. In some cases, some species may even reflect on their own knowledge states, memory accessibility, and perceptual acuity as they make metacognitive judgments. And, studies of animal communication provided the basis for intensive assessments of language-like behavior in certain species. Taken together, these results argue much more for continuity than discontinuity. This should not be seen as a challenge to the uniqueness of human minds, but rather as a way to better understand how we became the species we are through the process of evolution.

Behavioural evidence for mental time travel in nonhuman animals

2010 ◽  
Vol 215 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Suddendorf ◽  
Michael C. Corballis
Keyword(s):  
Time Travel ◽  
Mental Time Travel ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Behavioural Evidence

A2. PA PRIME MINISTER MAHMUD ABBAS AND ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON, STATEMENTS FOLLOWING THE AQABA SUMMIT, AQABA, JORDAN, 4 JUNE 2003 (EXCERPTS).

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-151
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Jewish State ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Associated Press ◽  
Occupied Territories ◽  
Arab States ◽  
President Bush

The quadrilateral meeting at Aqaba, intended to ““kick off implementation”” of the road map, was attended by King Abdallah, Prime Minister Abbas, Prime Minister Sharon, and President Bush. All four leaders made statements at the end of the meeting, but only those by Abbas and Sharon are reproduced below. President Bush's statement was noteworthy for its mention of Israel as a ““vibrant Jewish state”” (““America is strongly committed and I am strongly committed to Israel's security as a vibrant Jewish state””) and of Palestinian ““hopes”” for a ““viable”” state, and for reiterating that the Arab states ““have promised to cut off assistance and the flow of money and weapons to terrorists groups and to help Prime Minister Abbas rid Palestinian areas of terrorism.”” The statements by Abbas and Sharon were drafted with U.S. officials prior to the meeting. Though Abbas did not comply with the Israeli demand of Palestinian acknowledgment of Israel as a ““Jewish state,”” his speech provoked indignation in the occupied territories for its reference to ““the suffering of the Jews”” without mention of Palestinian suffering, its reiterated call for ending the ““armed intifada,”” and its ““renunciation”” of terrorism. Sharon resisted U.S. suggestions to refer to ““settlements,”” but did mention ““unauthorized outposts.”” In reference to Sharon's mention of ““territorial contiguity”” for a ““viable”” Palestinian state, a spokesman indicated that the contiguity would be ensured by ““bridges and tunnels.”” The text of the statements, transcribed by eMediaMill- Works and carried by the Associated Press, was posted on the Washington Post's Website.

The IFLA Global Vision Project in Zimbabwe: Towards a Unified Field Road Map for Libraries

Mousaion ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collence Takaingenhamo Chisita ◽  
Nyarai Patience Chibanda
Keyword(s):  
Economic Transformation ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Road ◽  
Unified Field ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Library Associations ◽  
Global Vision ◽  
Library Profession

The development of libraries in any country is critical for its socio-economic transformation especially during this 21st century era where access to information and knowledge underpins development. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) launched the Global Vision Project in 2017 as a way of strengthening library throughout the world. The project has seen over 190 countries participating worldwide. For most nations, especially those in the developing countries, this has indeed created platforms for strong and united library associations that are powering literate, informed and participative societies. A number of countries in Africa including Zimbabwe have taken the initiatives to participate in the IFLA Global Vision. This article seeks to examine the challenges and opportunities   for librarians in Zimbabwe in building a united library field. It will also scrutinize the road travelled by librarians in Zimbabwe in their pursuit of a vision to reposition their libraries on the global library landscape. The   article will also study the factors affecting the development of a unified library sector in Zimbabwe. It will also explore how the national professional association Zimbabwe Library Association (ZIMLA) can contribute towards a unified library profession through collaboration. The article also proposes a strategy to enhance cooperation among librarians in Zimbabwe.

EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP: ASPECTS AND APPROACHES

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
JAVED ALAM SHEIKH
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
World Population ◽  
Least Developed Countries ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status

Almost 50 per cent of the world population is constituted by the women and they have been making substantial contribution to socio-economic development. But, unfortunately their tremendous contribution remains unrecognized and unnoticed in most of the developing and least developed countries causing the problem of poverty among them. Empowering women has become the key element in the development of an economy. With women moving forward, the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves. Hence, improving the status of women by way of their economic empowerment is highly called for. Entrepreneurship is a key tool for the economic empowerment of women around the world for alleviating poverty. Entrepreneurship is now widely recognized as a tool of economic development in India also. In this paper I have tried to discuss the reasons and role of Women Entrepreneurship with the help of Push and Pull factors. In the last I have also discussed the problems and the road map of Women Entrepreneurs development in India.

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