Beyond “Uniqueness”: Habitual Traits in the Context of Cognitive-Communicative Continuity

Abstract

The paper discusses a longstanding and prevailing debate in the fields of comparative psychology and language evolution, namely the problem of continuity of cognitive and communicative abilities. It is suggested that although this problem has been addressed by multiple researchers, it remains a persistent topic of discussion and an important meta-theoretical theme in the field of language evolution. To support this claim, the paper first provides a brief overview of the continuity debate by discussing examples of prominent research work in comparative communication and cognition. It further suggests that the problem of continuity can be partly resolved by focusing on cognitive and behavioural trait distribution both between and within species. Specifically, it is proposed that conceptualising given traits as habitual, rather than human-unique, is informative for understanding evolutionary processes shaping human communicative abilities. Finally, the paper suggests that the debate on continuity would benefit from being placed in a broader framework of evolution of phenotypic plasticity and the role of cognition and behavior in evolutionary processes.

Old and New Approaches to Animal Cognition: There Is Not “One Cognition”

“…Secondly and relatedly, cognition is viewed as a cluster of skills that evolve together, as in humans. We see that these positions are still prevalent in comparative psychology (Vasilieva 2019).…”

“…Kamil's (1987) first suggestion was heeded. However, Kamil's (1987) second suggestion, to adopt a biocentric view of cognition by considering ecological factors, which is quite natural for biologists, has been at times neglected by psychologists (Sewall 2015;Macphail 1982;Eaton et al 2018;Vasilieva 2019). We see two main problems that hinder current research in comparative psychology.…”

“…The related problem which arises from the "one cognition" assumption is that, implicitly or explicitly, the presented hypotheses consider human cognition as the maximum and standard capacity (Vasilieva 2019). This idea is exemplified in cognitive niche construction theory, which considers human cognition to have evolved into the most flexible and adaptable form of intelligence due to a runaway feedback process of cumulative culture and developmental plasticity (Sterelny 2003;Laland et al 2000).…”

The Anthropocentric Bias in Animal Cognition

“…On the other hand, if the question of human uniqueness is motivated by the purpose of establishing what abilities dramatically differentiate us from all other species, that explains why many of these attempts adopt a circular format: if research reveals that a candidate trait is not ultimately unique, instead of continuing to investigate its distribution in different species, the search begins for another trait that can satisfy the claim of uniqueness (cf. Vasilieva, 2019). This motivation has frequently been driven by the advances in knowledge of many species to the point that they have defeated or called into question proposed demarcation lines.…”

“…Thus, not only the uniqueness but also the distribution of a trait in different species could shed light on the evolution of said trait (cf. Vasilieva, 2019). In other words, the evolutionary significance of a given trait can be better understood when comparative research abandons the categorical, dichotomous, and anthropocentric presuppositions that are associated with the search for "unique" human traits, that is, anthropological difference.…”