The Experts below are selected from a list of 72075 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Emanuelle Reynaud - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The elephant in the China shop: When technical reasoning meets cumulative Technological Culture.
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2020Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:The commentaries have both revealed the implications of and challenged our approach. In this response, we reply to these concerns, discuss why the technical-reasoning hypothesis does not minimize the role of social-learning mechanisms - nor assume that technical-reasoning skills make individuals omniscient technically - and make suggestions for overcoming the classical opposition between the cultural versus cognitive niche hypothesis of cumulative Technological Culture.
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The elephant in the room: What matters cognitively in cumulative Technological Culture.
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2019Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture (CTC) refers to the increase in the efficiency and complexity of tools and techniques in human populations over generations. A fascinating question is to understand the cognitive origins of this phenomenon. Because CTC is definitely a social phenomenon, most accounts have suggested a series of cognitive mechanisms oriented toward the social dimension (e.g., teaching, imitation, theory of mind, and metacognition), thereby minimizing the technical dimension and the potential influence of non-social, cognitive skills. What if we have failed to see the elephant in the room? What if social cognitive mechanisms were only catalyzing factors and not the sufficient and necessary conditions for the emergence of CTC? In this article, we offer an alternative, unified cognitive approach to this phenomenon by assuming that CTC originates in non-social cognitive skills, namely technical-reasoning skills which enable humans to develop the technical potential necessary to constantly acquire and improve technical information. This leads us to discuss how theory of mind and metacognition, in concert with technical reasoning, can help boost CTC. The cognitive approach developed here opens up promising new avenues for reinterpreting classical issues (e.g., innovation, emulation vs. imitation, social vs. asocial learning, cooperation, teaching, and overimitation) in a field that has so far been largely dominated by other disciplines, such as evolutionary biology, mathematics, anthropology, archeology, economics, and philosophy.
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Roles of Technical Reasoning, Theory of Mind, Creativity, and Fluid Cognition in Cumulative Technological Culture
Human Nature, 2019Co-Authors: Emmanuel Oliveira, Emanuelle Reynaud, François OsiurakAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture can be defined as the progressive diversification, complexification, and enhancement of Technological traits through generations. An outstanding issue is to specify the cognitive bases of this phenomenon. Based on the literature, we identified four potential cognitive factors: namely, theory-of-mind, technical-reasoning, creativity, and fluid-cognitive skills. The goal of the present study was to test which of these factors—or a combination thereof—best predicted the cumulative performance in two experimental, micro-society conditions (Communication and Observation conditions; n = 100 each) differing in the nature of the interaction (verbal, visual) allowed between participants. The task was to build the highest possible tower. Participants were also assessed on the four aforementioned cognitive factors in order to predict cumulative performance (tower height) and attractiveness. Our findings indicate that technical-reasoning skills are the best predictor of cumulative performance (tower height), even if their role may be restricted to the specific Technological domain. Theory-of-mind skills may have a facilitator role, particularly in the Communication condition. Creativity can also help in the generation of novel ideas, but it is not sufficient to support innovation. Finally, fluid cognition is not involved in cumulative Technological Culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that domain-specific knowledge (i.e., technical-reasoning skills) remains critical for explaining cumulative Technological Culture.
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The castaway island: Distinct roles of theory of mind and technical reasoning in cumulative Technological Culture.
Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2019Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture is an intriguing phenomenon whose cognitive bases remain a matter of debate. For the influential shared-intentionality theory, this phenomenon originates in theory-of-mind skills. Evidence challenges it, stressing the role of learners' technical-reasoning skills. This discrepancy might be explained by a more specific role of theory-of-mind skills, notably in situations where the teacher communicates with the learner without visual access to what the latter is doing. We tested this hypothesis using a microsociety paradigm where participants (n = 200) had to build the highest possible tower in 2 conditions: Monitoring (communication with visual access) and Blind (communication without visual access). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills. Results indicated that learners' technical-reasoning skills predicted cumulative performance in both conditions, whereas teachers' theory-of-mind skills were involved only in the Blind condition. These findings confirm the distinct but complementary roles of theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills in cumulative Technological Culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Physical Intelligence Does Matter to Cumulative Technological Culture
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2016Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, Nicolas Claidière, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Tool-based Culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative Technological Culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative Technological Culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative Technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human Technological Culture needs ``great engineers'' to evolve regardless of the proportion of ``great pedagogues.'' Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations.
François Osiurak - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The elephant in the China shop: When technical reasoning meets cumulative Technological Culture.
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2020Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:The commentaries have both revealed the implications of and challenged our approach. In this response, we reply to these concerns, discuss why the technical-reasoning hypothesis does not minimize the role of social-learning mechanisms - nor assume that technical-reasoning skills make individuals omniscient technically - and make suggestions for overcoming the classical opposition between the cultural versus cognitive niche hypothesis of cumulative Technological Culture.
-
The elephant in the room: What matters cognitively in cumulative Technological Culture.
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2019Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture (CTC) refers to the increase in the efficiency and complexity of tools and techniques in human populations over generations. A fascinating question is to understand the cognitive origins of this phenomenon. Because CTC is definitely a social phenomenon, most accounts have suggested a series of cognitive mechanisms oriented toward the social dimension (e.g., teaching, imitation, theory of mind, and metacognition), thereby minimizing the technical dimension and the potential influence of non-social, cognitive skills. What if we have failed to see the elephant in the room? What if social cognitive mechanisms were only catalyzing factors and not the sufficient and necessary conditions for the emergence of CTC? In this article, we offer an alternative, unified cognitive approach to this phenomenon by assuming that CTC originates in non-social cognitive skills, namely technical-reasoning skills which enable humans to develop the technical potential necessary to constantly acquire and improve technical information. This leads us to discuss how theory of mind and metacognition, in concert with technical reasoning, can help boost CTC. The cognitive approach developed here opens up promising new avenues for reinterpreting classical issues (e.g., innovation, emulation vs. imitation, social vs. asocial learning, cooperation, teaching, and overimitation) in a field that has so far been largely dominated by other disciplines, such as evolutionary biology, mathematics, anthropology, archeology, economics, and philosophy.
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Roles of Technical Reasoning, Theory of Mind, Creativity, and Fluid Cognition in Cumulative Technological Culture
Human Nature, 2019Co-Authors: Emmanuel Oliveira, Emanuelle Reynaud, François OsiurakAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture can be defined as the progressive diversification, complexification, and enhancement of Technological traits through generations. An outstanding issue is to specify the cognitive bases of this phenomenon. Based on the literature, we identified four potential cognitive factors: namely, theory-of-mind, technical-reasoning, creativity, and fluid-cognitive skills. The goal of the present study was to test which of these factors—or a combination thereof—best predicted the cumulative performance in two experimental, micro-society conditions (Communication and Observation conditions; n = 100 each) differing in the nature of the interaction (verbal, visual) allowed between participants. The task was to build the highest possible tower. Participants were also assessed on the four aforementioned cognitive factors in order to predict cumulative performance (tower height) and attractiveness. Our findings indicate that technical-reasoning skills are the best predictor of cumulative performance (tower height), even if their role may be restricted to the specific Technological domain. Theory-of-mind skills may have a facilitator role, particularly in the Communication condition. Creativity can also help in the generation of novel ideas, but it is not sufficient to support innovation. Finally, fluid cognition is not involved in cumulative Technological Culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that domain-specific knowledge (i.e., technical-reasoning skills) remains critical for explaining cumulative Technological Culture.
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The castaway island: Distinct roles of theory of mind and technical reasoning in cumulative Technological Culture.
Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2019Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture is an intriguing phenomenon whose cognitive bases remain a matter of debate. For the influential shared-intentionality theory, this phenomenon originates in theory-of-mind skills. Evidence challenges it, stressing the role of learners' technical-reasoning skills. This discrepancy might be explained by a more specific role of theory-of-mind skills, notably in situations where the teacher communicates with the learner without visual access to what the latter is doing. We tested this hypothesis using a microsociety paradigm where participants (n = 200) had to build the highest possible tower in 2 conditions: Monitoring (communication with visual access) and Blind (communication without visual access). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills. Results indicated that learners' technical-reasoning skills predicted cumulative performance in both conditions, whereas teachers' theory-of-mind skills were involved only in the Blind condition. These findings confirm the distinct but complementary roles of theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills in cumulative Technological Culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Physical Intelligence Does Matter to Cumulative Technological Culture
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2016Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, Nicolas Claidière, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Tool-based Culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative Technological Culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative Technological Culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative Technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human Technological Culture needs ``great engineers'' to evolve regardless of the proportion of ``great pedagogues.'' Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations.
Emmanuel Oliveira - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Roles of Technical Reasoning, Theory of Mind, Creativity, and Fluid Cognition in Cumulative Technological Culture
Human Nature, 2019Co-Authors: Emmanuel Oliveira, Emanuelle Reynaud, François OsiurakAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture can be defined as the progressive diversification, complexification, and enhancement of Technological traits through generations. An outstanding issue is to specify the cognitive bases of this phenomenon. Based on the literature, we identified four potential cognitive factors: namely, theory-of-mind, technical-reasoning, creativity, and fluid-cognitive skills. The goal of the present study was to test which of these factors—or a combination thereof—best predicted the cumulative performance in two experimental, micro-society conditions (Communication and Observation conditions; n = 100 each) differing in the nature of the interaction (verbal, visual) allowed between participants. The task was to build the highest possible tower. Participants were also assessed on the four aforementioned cognitive factors in order to predict cumulative performance (tower height) and attractiveness. Our findings indicate that technical-reasoning skills are the best predictor of cumulative performance (tower height), even if their role may be restricted to the specific Technological domain. Theory-of-mind skills may have a facilitator role, particularly in the Communication condition. Creativity can also help in the generation of novel ideas, but it is not sufficient to support innovation. Finally, fluid cognition is not involved in cumulative Technological Culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that domain-specific knowledge (i.e., technical-reasoning skills) remains critical for explaining cumulative Technological Culture.
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The castaway island: Distinct roles of theory of mind and technical reasoning in cumulative Technological Culture.
Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2019Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture is an intriguing phenomenon whose cognitive bases remain a matter of debate. For the influential shared-intentionality theory, this phenomenon originates in theory-of-mind skills. Evidence challenges it, stressing the role of learners' technical-reasoning skills. This discrepancy might be explained by a more specific role of theory-of-mind skills, notably in situations where the teacher communicates with the learner without visual access to what the latter is doing. We tested this hypothesis using a microsociety paradigm where participants (n = 200) had to build the highest possible tower in 2 conditions: Monitoring (communication with visual access) and Blind (communication without visual access). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills. Results indicated that learners' technical-reasoning skills predicted cumulative performance in both conditions, whereas teachers' theory-of-mind skills were involved only in the Blind condition. These findings confirm the distinct but complementary roles of theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills in cumulative Technological Culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Physical Intelligence Does Matter to Cumulative Technological Culture
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2016Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, Nicolas Claidière, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Tool-based Culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative Technological Culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative Technological Culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative Technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human Technological Culture needs ``great engineers'' to evolve regardless of the proportion of ``great pedagogues.'' Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations.
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Physical intelligence does matter to cumulative Technological Culture.
Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2016Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, Nicolas Claidière, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Tool-based Culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative Technological Culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative Technological Culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative Technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human Technological Culture needs "great engineers" to evolve regardless of the proportion of "great pedagogues." Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations. (PsycINFO Database Record
Wiebe E. Bijker - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Differences in Risk Conception and Differences in Technological Culture
2016Co-Authors: Wiebe E. BijkerAbstract:How is it possible that the USA failed to keep New Orleans dry, when large parts of the Netherlands can exist below sea level? This question, with all its implicit rhetoric about the big and mighty Americans and the small and weak Dutch, generated a flock of American expeditions to the Netherlands in the aftermath of the flooding of New Orleans by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The big US television networks, channels such as National Geographic, and political delegations, including the Louisiana governor and members of the US Congress, visited the Netherlands within a few months after the flooding, and all parties returned with spirited reports of how the Americans could learn from the Dutch. Does this suggest that the US Army Corps of Engineers is less able than the Rijkswaterstaat engineers in the Netherlands? I will argue that something else is going on: that the difference is not one of expertise and competence. In this paper I compare the styles of US and Dutch coastal engineer ing, and argue that they express different conceptions of risk management in relation to flooding. These differences can, perhaps, be explained by ref erence to the wider Technological Cultures of both countries, rather than to the specific engineering Cultures. The core of my analysis, however, is aimed at the styles of coastal engineering. In this paper I am not interested in blaming artefacts or humans - levees/dikes1 and warning systems - or politicians or engineers involved in their design or maintenance. My con jecture is that even had everyone and everything functioned effectively, the historical style of American coastal engineering would encourage accepting the kind of flooding that occurred after Katrina.
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Vulnerability in Technological Culture: New directions in research and governance
2014Co-Authors: Anique Hommels, Jessica Mesman, Wiebe E. BijkerAbstract:Novel technologies and scientific advancements offer not only opportunities but risks. Technological systems are vulnerable to human error and technical malfunctioning that have far-reaching consequences: one flipped switch can cause a cascading power failure across a networked electric grid. Yet, once addressed, vulnerability accompanied by coping mechanisms may yield a more flexible and resilient society. This book investigates vulnerability, in both its negative and positive aspects, in Technological Cultures. The contributors argue that viewing risk in terms of vulnerability offers a novel approach to understanding the risks and benefits of science and technology. Such an approach broadens conventional risk analysis by connecting to issues of justice, solidarity, and livelihood, and enabling comparisons between the global north and south. The book explores case studies that range from agricultural practices in India to neonatal intensive care medicine in Western hospitals; these cases, spanning the issues addressed in the book, illustrate what vulnerability is and does. The book offers conceptual frameworks for empirical description and analysis of vulnerability that elucidate its ambiguity, context dependence, and constructed nature. Finally, the book addresses the implications of these analyses for the governance of vulnerability, proposing a more reflexive way of dealing with vulnerability in Technological Cultures.
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American and Dutch coastal engineering: differences in risk conception and differences in Technological Culture
Social Studies of Science, 2007Co-Authors: Wiebe E. BijkerAbstract:How is it possible that the USA failed to keep New Orleans dry, when large parts of the Netherlands can exist below sea level? This question, with all its implicit rhetoric about the big and mighty Americans and the small and weak Dutch, generated a flock of American expeditions to the Netherlands in the aftermath of the flooding of New Orleans by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The big US television networks, channels such as National Geographic, and political delegations, including the Louisiana governor and members of the US Congress, visited the Netherlands within a few months after the flooding, and all parties returned with spirited reports of how the Americans could learn from the Dutch. Does this suggest that the US Corps of Engineers is less able than the Rijkswaterstaat engineers in the Netherlands? I will argue that something else is going on: that the difference is not one of expertise and competence. In this paper I compare the styles of US and Dutch coastal engineering, and argue that they express different conceptions of risk management in relation to flooding. These differences can, perhaps, be explained by reference to the wider Technological Cultures of both countries, rather than to the specific engineering Cultures. The core of my analysis, however, is aimed at the styles of coastal engineering. In this paper I am not interested in blaming artefacts or humans – levees/dikes 1 and warning systems – or politicians or engineers involved in their design or maintenance. My conjecture is that even had everyone and everything functioned effectively, the historical style of American coastal engineering would encourage accepting the kind of flooding that occurred after Katrina.
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Dikes and Dams, Thick with Politics
Isis, 2007Co-Authors: Wiebe E. BijkerAbstract:Abstract Things are thick with politics. This essay illustrates the point by focusing on a variety of technologies that help to manage water: anicuts and tanks in India, dikes and a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands, and levees in New Orleans. Technologies are not only shaped by political forces; they also exert political force themselves: on social stratification in Indian villages or on government stability in the Netherlands. We should recognize, then, that the functioning of technologies and the functioning of societies are intricately linked. The essay traces this interlinking by using the concept of “Technological Culture.” It argues that the different styles of coastal engineering in the United States and in the Netherlands can be explained by differences in their Technological Cultures, particularly the different styles of risk handling. This conclusion is then applied to the Indian case and to issues of development, democracy, and innovation.
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The Vulnerability of Technological Culture
2006Co-Authors: Wiebe E. BijkerAbstract:The attacks on New York and Washington, 11 September 2001 (‘9/11’), as well as other attacks since, have demonstrated how vulnerable our modern societies are. These events shattered many people’s basic feelings of security and safeness, though 9/11 probably did not radically change the view of scholars in science, technology, and society studies (STS). Work on this chapter started in response to 9/11, when several historians and sociologists of technology and science asked in what ways their research could be relevant to understand these events. I will argue that it is worth to investigate the vulnerability of Technological Culture, and that this can be done fruitfully from an STS perspective. My main point, however, is different. I want to suggest that vulnerability is not to be taken as something purely negative. Living in a Technological Culture, I will argue, inevitably implies to live in a vulnerable world. And vulnerability is not only an inevitable characteristic; it is even an important asset of our Technological Culture as a prerequisite for living with the quest for innovation. To live in an open, changing and innovative Culture, we must pay the price of vulnerability. Vulnerability is a central issue when thinking about innovation. Joseph Schumpeter’s recognition that the fundamental instability of capitalism presents an ever-present possibility of entrepreneurs’ seizing upon innovations can be read as an early formulation of a positive relation. Vulnerability seems to be a condition sine qua non for innovation, as it is the inevitable result of the instability and dynamic development that Schumpeter identified as prerequisites for innovation (Schumpeter 1939). The relation has also been made vice versa: innovation makes vulnerable.
Jordan Navarro - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The castaway island: Distinct roles of theory of mind and technical reasoning in cumulative Technological Culture.
Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2019Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Cumulative Technological Culture is an intriguing phenomenon whose cognitive bases remain a matter of debate. For the influential shared-intentionality theory, this phenomenon originates in theory-of-mind skills. Evidence challenges it, stressing the role of learners' technical-reasoning skills. This discrepancy might be explained by a more specific role of theory-of-mind skills, notably in situations where the teacher communicates with the learner without visual access to what the latter is doing. We tested this hypothesis using a microsociety paradigm where participants (n = 200) had to build the highest possible tower in 2 conditions: Monitoring (communication with visual access) and Blind (communication without visual access). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills. Results indicated that learners' technical-reasoning skills predicted cumulative performance in both conditions, whereas teachers' theory-of-mind skills were involved only in the Blind condition. These findings confirm the distinct but complementary roles of theory-of-mind and technical-reasoning skills in cumulative Technological Culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Physical Intelligence Does Matter to Cumulative Technological Culture
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2016Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, Nicolas Claidière, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Tool-based Culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative Technological Culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative Technological Culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative Technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human Technological Culture needs ``great engineers'' to evolve regardless of the proportion of ``great pedagogues.'' Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations.
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Physical intelligence does matter to cumulative Technological Culture.
Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2016Co-Authors: François Osiurak, Emmanuel Oliveira, Jordan Navarro, Mathieu Lesourd, Nicolas Claidière, Emanuelle ReynaudAbstract:Tool-based Culture is not unique to humans, but cumulative Technological Culture is. The social intelligence hypothesis suggests that this phenomenon is fundamentally based on uniquely human sociocognitive skills (e.g., shared intentionality). An alternative hypothesis is that cumulative Technological Culture also crucially depends on physical intelligence, which may reflect fluid and crystallized aspects of intelligence and enables people to understand and improve the tools made by predecessors. By using a tool-making-based microsociety paradigm, we demonstrate that physical intelligence is a stronger predictor of cumulative Technological performance than social intelligence. Moreover, learners' physical intelligence is critical not only in observational learning but also when learners interact verbally with teachers. Finally, we show that cumulative performance is only slightly influenced by teachers' physical and social intelligence. In sum, human Technological Culture needs "great engineers" to evolve regardless of the proportion of "great pedagogues." Social intelligence might play a more limited role than commonly assumed, perhaps in tool-use/making situations in which teachers and learners have to share symbolic representations. (PsycINFO Database Record