Folk Physics for Apes : The Chimpanzee's Theory of How the World Works

From an early age, humans know a surprising amount about basic physical principles, such as gravity, force, mass, and shape. We can see this in the way that young children play, and manipulate objects around them. The same behavior has long been observed in primates - chimpanzees have been shown to possess a remarkable ability to make and use simple tools. But what does this tell us about their inner mental state - do they therefore share the same understanding to that of a young child? Do they understand the simple, underlying physical principles involved? Though some people would say that they do, this book reports groundbreaking research that questions whether this really is the case. Folk Physics for Apes challenges the assumptions so often made about apes. It offers us a rare glimpse into the workings of another mind, examining how apes perceive and understand the physical world - an understanding that appears to be both similar to, and yet profoundly different from our own. The book will have broad appeal to evolutionary psychologists, developmental psychologists, and those interested in the sub-disciplines of cognitive science (philosophy, anthropology). The book additionally offers for developmental psychologists some valuable new non-verbal techniques for assessing causal understanding in young children. "Folk physics for apes outlines a new perspective on the innermost workings of the chimpanzee's mind. It offers a glimpse into the mental life of another species, examining how apes perceive and understand the physical world - an understanding that appears to be both similar to, and yet profoundly different from our own. In teasing apart the human and ape ways of understanding the world, it represents a new goal for all of those interested in mental evolution: to begin to pursue the spectacular mental differences that exist between humans and other animals as vigorously as we have previously pursued the similarities. This book will have broad appeal to evolutionary psychologists, developmental psychologists, comparative psychologists, and all of the subdisciplines of cognitive science (philosophy, cognitive psychology, anthropology). In addition, the book offers developmental psychologists a wealth of valuable new non-verbal techniques for assessing causal understanding in young children."--BOOK JACKET. 'Folk Physics for Apes' offers us a glimpse into the workings of another mind, examining how apes perceive and understand the physical world. Describing research and challenging assumptions, the book should have broad appeal to evolutionary psychologists, developmental psychologists and more. From children's behaviour, we can see that humans know a surprising amount about physical principles from an early age. The same behaviour has been observed in primates. This text examines how apes perceive and understand the physical world