Animal Mind ― Human Mind: Report of the Dahlem Workshop on Animal Mind ― Human Mind, Berlin 1981, March 22–27 (Dahlem Workshop Report (21))

"The oleic acid on a live and wriggling sister or mother and refrain from evicting her from our hive. But does the occurƯ rence of unintelligent behavior suffice to demonstrate the total absence of mental experience under any circumstances? Ethologists from some distant galaxy could easily discern exƯ amples of stupid and maladaptive behavior in our own species. But do instances of human stupidity prove that none of us is ever consciously aware of what he is dOing? No available eviƯ dence compels us to believe that insects, or any other animals, experience any sort of consciousness, or intentionally plan any of their behavior. But neither are we compelled to believe the contrary. In areas where data are few and of limited relƯ evance, dogmatic negativity can easily limit what scientists even try to investigate, and thus perhaps delay or prevent imƯ portant insights and discoveries. Many of the participants agreed that a good starting point would be to consider what we know of our own thinking, subjecƯ tive feelings, and consciousness, and then move on to inquire whether other species experience anything similar. Such an apƯ proach was once considered fallaciously anthropomorphic. But it seems now to be widely if not universally recognized that this is a serious objection only if one has already assumed in advance that conscious thinking is uniquely human, and the accuƯ sation of anthropomorphism is then merely a reiteration of the prior conviction"--Font no determinada Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-12 Brain Functions and Mental Processes....Pages 13-32 Some Perspectives on the Evolution of Intelligence and the Brain....Pages 33-55 Mental Processes in the Nonverbal Hemisphere....Pages 57-73 Risk-benefit Assessment in Animals....Pages 75-93 The Ecological Conditions of Thinking....Pages 95-112 Social Knowledge in Free-ranging Primates....Pages 113-130 Primate Social Intelligence: Contributions from the Laboratory....Pages 131-143 Internal Representation....Pages 145-158 Problem Solving....Pages 159-176 Ascent of Apes....Pages 177-200 Cognitive Knowledge and Executive Control: Metacognition....Pages 201-224 On the Evolution of Cognitive Processes and Performances....Pages 225-250 Study of Vertebrate Communication — Its Cognitive Implications....Pages 251-267 The Insect Mind: Physics or Metaphysics?....Pages 269-297 Cognitive Aspects of Ape Language Experiments....Pages 299-330 Neuropsychological Approaches State of the Art Report....Pages 333-353 Evolutionary Ecology of Thinking State of the Art Report....Pages 354-373 Comparative Approaches to Animal Cognition State of the Art Report....Pages 374-388 Communication As Evidence of Thinking State of the Art Report....Pages 390-406 Afterthoughts on Animal Minds....Pages 407-413 Back Matter....Pages 415-427