Connecting the great advances in cognitive science to their roots in human evolution must be one the greatest missed opportunities in the current psychology curriculum. Cognitive Evolution traces pattern recognition, memory, language and consciousness across species. For example, who knew that for pigeons the duration of immediate memory was two to six seconds, for monkeys ten to twenty, and for humans twenty to sixty seconds. This book is full of insights into what is already known and what is yet to be studied. I highly recommend it. - Michael Posner, Prof. Emeritus, University of Oregon, USA
This book combines a basic short course in biological evolution with an extended treatment of primate evolution emphasizing fossil and living hominids, their anatomy, habits and cognitive capabilities. Rich in detail, engagingly written and well illustrated, this volume is an excellent resource for upper level undergraduates and graduate students in the cognitive sciences. It serves also as a reminder of how even seemingly simple cognitive tasks depend on a brain architecture and circuitry of immense complexity with a deep evolutionary heritage. - Dr. Thurston Lacalli, Biology Department, University of Victoria, Canada
This book is a milestone achievement in the study of cognitive evolution and will henceforth be recognized as a classic. For the first time, the natural history of the evolution of cognition is described from its origins, when life first began, to the present day. It is useful as a source book for current cognitive researchers. It is essential as a foundational text for students who want to become cognitive researchers. - Arnold Glass, Prof., Rutgers University, USA
Connecting the great advances in cognitive science to their roots in human evolution must be one the greatest missed opportunities in the current psychology curriculum. Cognitive Evolution traces pattern recognition, memory, language and consciousness across species. For example, who knew that for pigeons the duration of immediate memory was two to six seconds, for monkeys ten to twenty, and for humans twenty to sixty seconds. This book is full of insights into what is already known and what is yet to be studied. I highly recommend it. - Michael Posner, Prof. Emeritus, University of Oregon, USA
This book combines a basic short course in biological evolution with an extended treatment of primate evolution emphasizing fossil and living hominids, their anatomy, habits and cognitive capabilities. Rich in detail, engagingly written and well illustrated, this volume is an excellent resource for upper level undergraduates and graduate students in the cognitive sciences. It serves also as a reminder of how even seemingly simple cognitive tasks depend on a brain architecture and circuitry of immense complexity with a deep evolutionary heritage. - Dr. Thurston Lacalli, Biology Department, University of Victoria, Canada
This book is a milestone achievement in the study of cognitive evolution and will henceforth be recognized as a classic. For the first time, the natural history of the evolution of cognition is described from its origins, when life first began, to the present day. It is useful as a source book for current cognitive researchers. It is essential as a foundational text for students who want to become cognitive researchers. - Arnold Glass, Prof., Rutgers University, USA
The evolution of human cognitive traits is a vast subject and I commend Boles on the recency of the literature cited and for the overall flow between the different sections. Cognitive Evolution will be a useful and important resource for students of evolutionary psychology. I think back to my days as an undergrad-uate student when the opportunity to buy a single textbook that encapsulates the main themes of the course, as this volume does, would have been very welcome. - Ellis J. G. Langley, Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Volume 95
