语言如何进化

人类语言具有复杂多变的递归结构,漫长的物种进化过程中唯独人类精通语言。语言的进化始于大约两百万年前的“更新世时期”,语言在当时作为一种认知适应对于人类应对自然界带给人类的挑战（如动物掠食与森林毁坏）有很大帮助。人类进化过程中学习与文化因素形成一种选择压力促使人际交流语法化,人际交流语法化引发大脑容量增加,然而,最初的语言进化与基因无关。学习与文化压力也使交流的媒介依次变为手语模式、表情模式与语言模式。交流媒介的逐渐变化最终导致了FOXP2基因突变,FOXP2基因突变让智人具有了自主的言语能力。与地球上其它的人科动物相比,人类的语言能力使人类在进化中具有明显的优势     

THE THERMODYNAMIC AND PHYLOGENETIC FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN WICKEDNESS

Abstract. The problem of evil is brought under the ambit of science by explicating the theological concept "sinful" in thermo-dynamic and phylogenetic terms, and the proposition "Homo sapiens is a sinful species" is established. By a like explication, the theological concept of the "Fall of man" is shown to be an amalgam of two concepts, Fall I and Fall II, of thermodynamic and anthropogenetic origins, respectively. Fall I affects all life; Fall II ("original sin") affects Homo sapiens and its immediate forebears alone.     

From mouth to hand: gesture, speech, and the evolution of right-handedness

The strong predominance of right-handedness appears to be a uniquely human characteristic, whereas the left-cerebral dominance for vocalization occurs in many species, including frogs, birds, and mammals. Right-handedness may have arisen because of an association between manual gestures and vocalization in the evolution of language. I argue that language evolved from manual gestures, gradually incorporating vocal elements. The transition may be traced through changes in the function of Broca's area. Its homologue in monkeys has nothing to do with vocal control, but contains the so-called "mirror neurons," the code for both the production of manual reaching movements and the perception of the same movements performed by others. This system is bilateral in monkeys, but predominantly left-hemispheric in humans, and in humans is involved with vocalization as well as manual actions. There is evidence that Broca's area is enlarged on the left side in Homo habilis, suggesting that a link between gesture and vocalization may go back at least two million years, although other evidence suggests that speech may not have become fully autonomous until Homo sapiens appeared some 170,000 years ago, or perhaps even later. The removal of manual gesture as a necessary component of language may explain the rapid advance of technology, allowing late migrations of Homo sapiens from Africa to replace all other hominids in other parts of the world, including the Neanderthals in Europe and Homo erectus in Asia. Nevertheless, the long association of vocalization with manual gesture left us a legacy of right-handedness.     

On the evolution of language and generativity.

One of the properties that most conspicuously distinguishes human language from any other form of animal communication is generativity. Language with this property therefore presumably evolved with the Homo line somewhere between H. habilis and H. sapiens sapiens. Some have suggested that it emerged relatively suddenly and completely with H. sapiens sapiens, and this view is consistent with (a) linguistic estimates as to when vocal language emerged, (b) the relatively late "explosion" of manufacture and cultural artifacts such as body ornamentation and cave drawings, and (c) evidence on changes in the vocal apparatus. However, evidence on brain size and developmental patterns of growth suggests an earlier origin and a more continuous evolution. I propose that these scenarios can be reconciled if it is supposed that generative language evolved, perhaps from H. habilis on, as a system of manual gestures, but switched to a predominantly vocal system with H. sapiens sapiens. The subsequent "cultural explosion" can then be attributed to the freeing of the hands from primary involvement in language, so that they could be exploited, along with generativity, for manufacture, art, and other activities.     

Semiotic Hypercycles Driving the Evolution of Language

The evolution of human symbolic capacity must have been very rapid even in some intermediate stage (e.g. the proto-symbolic behavior of Homo erectus). Such a rapid process requires a runaway model. The type of very selective and hyperbolically growing self-organization called “hypercyle” by Eigen and Schuster could explain the rapidity and depth of the evolutionary process, whereas traditional runaway models of sexual selection seem to be rather implausible in the case of symbolic evolution. We assume two levels: at the first level the species is adapted to ecological demands and accumulates the effects of this process in the genome. At the second level a kind of social/cultural knowledge is accumulated via a set of symbolic forms, one of which is language. Bühler’s model of three basic functions of signs can also be elaborated so that its cyclic structure becomes apparent. We assume that the hypercyclic process of semiosis and functional differentiation was triggered in 2 my BP (with the Homo erectus) and got more and more speed with the species Homo sapiens and later. The consequences for the evolutionary stratification of human languages will be drawn in the last section of the paper. The basic aim of the paper is to provide a semiotic (and not just a linguistic) explanation of the origin of language which can be linked to relevant models in evolutionary biology and which exploits the possibilities contained in self-organizing systems.

The effect of acculturation on depressive moods: immigrant boys and girls during their transition from late adolescence to early adulthood

Using data (N = 773) from a longitudinal study of former Soviet Union immigrants to Israel, this study aimed to identify the psychosocial correlates of depressive mood among immigrant adolescents and differences by age and gender. OLS regression results suggest acculturative and social factors as useful variables in predicting depression. Adolescents with a high probability of assimilating (simultaneous strengthening of Israeli identity and weakening of Russian identity) proved more likely to report low levels of depression. Consistent with the literature, girls were more depressed than boys and age was positively related to depressive moods. As expected, different factors explain the psychological well-being of adolescents of different age groups and sex: in boys, depression was found mainly related to acculturation difficulties; in girls it was related more to their social support. As for age, more independent variables were statistically significant in accounting for depression in the older than in the younger group, which suggests that depression is age-related. The study results should be understood in connection with socialization processes to sex roles and the impact immigration has on this process.     

Heredity and experience: their relative importance in the development of taste preference in man.

Heritability estimates for sucrose, lactose, and sodium chloride taste preferences were uniformly low in a sample of 311 monozygotic and like-sex dizygotic twin pairs between 9 and 15 years of age. Black children preferred more concentrated solutions of all three tastants than did Caucasian children. This effect was independent of socioeconomic status in the total sample. Males preferred more concentrated solutions of sucrose and lactose than did females- but there were no sex differences in sodium chloride preference. The possibility that early intake experiences may play a role in the determination of enduring taste preferences in Homo sapiens is discussed.     

Précis of principles of brain evolution

Brain evolution is a complex weave of species similarities and differences, bound by diverse rules and principles. This book is a detailed examination of these principles, using data from a wide array of vertebrates but minimizing technical details and terminology. It is written for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and more senior scientists who already know something about "the brain," but want a deeper understanding of how diverse brains evolved. The book's central theme is that evolutionary changes in absolute brain size tend to correlate with many other aspects of brain structure and function, including the proportional size of individual brain regions, their complexity, and their neuronal connections. To explain these correlations, the book delves into rules of brain development and asks how changes in brain structure impact function and behavior. Two chapters focus specifically on how mammal brains diverged from other brains and how Homo sapiens evolved a very large and "special" brain.     

Gender gaps in cognitive and social‐emotional skills in early primary grades: Evidence from rural Indonesia

This paper examines the magnitude and source of gender gaps in cognitive and social‐emotional skills in early primary grades in rural Indonesia. Relative to boys, girls score more than 0.17 SD higher in tests of language and mathematics (cognitive skills) and between 0.18 and 0.27 SD higher in measures of social competence and emotional maturity (social‐emotional skills). We use Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition to investigate the extent to which gender differences in early schooling and parenting practices explain these gender gaps in skills. For cognitive skills, differences in early schooling between boys and girls explain between 9% and 11% of the gender gap whereas differences in parenting practices explain merely 3%–5% of the gender gap. This decomposition result is driven largely by children living in villages with high‐quality preschools. In contrast, for social‐emotional skills, differences in parenting styles toward boys and girls explain between 13% and 17% of the gender gap, while differences in early schooling explain only 0%–6% of the gender gap.     

The origins of modernity: was autonomous speech the critical factor?

Although Homo sapiens emerged in Africa some 170000 years ago, the origins of "modern" behavior, as expressed in technology and art, are attributed to people who migrated out of Africa around 50000 years ago, creating what has been called a human revolution in Europe and Asia. There is recent evidence that a mutation of the FOXP2 gene (forkhead box P2), important for the development of articulate speech, occurred some time within the past 100000 years. This event may have allowed speech to become fully autonomous, so that language no longer depended on a visuomanual component. The consequent freeing of the hands and development of pedagogy may have led to the technological advances that allowed H. sapiens to dominate and eventually replace all other hominids.     

The development of preschool children's (Homo sapiens) uses of objects and their role in peer group centrality

The ways in which objects were used by preschool children (Homo sapiens) was examined by directly observing them across one school year. In the first objective we documented the relative occurrence of different forms of object use and their developmental growth curves. Second, we examined the role of different types of object use, as well as novel and varied uses of objects, in predicting peer group centrality. Results indicated that noninstrumental object play was the most frequently observed category, followed by tool use, exploration, and construction; sex moderated the growth curve of children's exploration. Noninstrumental object play, not other types of object use, was significantly related to novel and varied object uses and only the latter category predicted peer group centrality. Results are discussed in terms of the social transmission of novel object use.     

Social learning in pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and adult humans (Homo sapiens) on a two-action artificial fruit

An artificial fruit (AF) was used to test for social learning in pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and adult humans (Homo sapiens). A monkey demonstrator opened the AF, showing alternative methods to 2 groups of cage mates. Video films of the monkey demonstrations were presented to adult humans. Compared with chimpanzees and children, the macaques watched the demonstrations significantly less and in a much more sporadic manner. They also produced only very weak and transitory evidence of social learning. In contrast, the adult humans performed as one might expect of optimum imitators, even producing evidence of components of a "ratchet effect."     

EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS CAPACITY IN THE GENUS HOMO: COGNITIVE TIME SEQUENCE

Intrigued by the possible paths that the evolution of religious capacity may have taken, the authors identify a series of six major building blocks that form a foundation for religious capacity in genus Homo. Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens idaltu are examined for early signs of religious capacity. Then, after an exploration of human plasticity and why it is so important, the analysis leads to a final building block that characterizes only Homo sapiens sapiens, beginning 200,000–400,000 years ago, when all the other cognitive and neurological underpinnings gradually came together. Because the timing of cognitive evolution has become an issue, the authors identify the time periods for these building blocks based on findings from modern cognitive science, neuroscience, genomic science, the new cognitive archaeology, and traditional stones‐and‐bones archaeology. The result is a logical, and even a likely story 55–65 million years long, which leads to the evolution of religious capacity in modern human beings.     

Differential effects of visual context on pattern discrimination by pigeons (Columba livia) and humans (Homo sapiens)

Three experiment examined the role of contextual information during line orientation and line position discriminations by pigeons (Columba livia) and humans (Homo sapiens). Experiment 1 tested pigeons' performance with these stimuli in a target localization task using texture displays. Experiments 2 and 3 tested pigeons and humans, respectively, with small and large variations of these stimuli in a same-different task. Humans showed a configural superiority effect when tested with displays constructed from large elements but not when tested with the smaller, more densely packed texture displays. The pigeons, in contrast, exhibited a configural inferiority effect when required to discriminate line orientation, regardless of stimulus size. These contrasting results suggest a species difference in the perceptionand use of features and contextual information in the discrimination of line information.     

Central issue importance as a function of gender and ethnicity

A recent theoretical model of centrality (Bernstein, 1987; Bernstein, Hofmann, Santiago, & Diebolt, 1989) suggests that the importance attached to certain “central issues” may increase the vulnerability of individuals to distress and depression, and may explain the differential rates of depression among gender, racial, and ethnic groups. The present study was designed to examine the importance of central issues as reported by Anglo, Black, and Hispanic men and women (N=169). Multivariate analyses revealed significant gender, ethnicity, and gender X ethnicity effects. Specifically, women considered Intimacy significantly more important than did men, whereas men attached more importance than women to Affiliation. Anglos rated Achievement significantly higher than did Hispanics and Blacks; Hispanics considered Affiliation more important than the other two groups; and Blacks considered Intimacy the least important among the groups. Moreover, Hispanic men attributed significantly greater importance to Change, Adventure, and Control, whereas Hispanic women attached the least significance among all the groups to Control. The results are discussed in terms of cultural influences on sex role orientation and central issues, and the process by which culture and ethnicity may be related to vulnerability to depression and distress.     

Recognizing impossible object relations: intuitions about support in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Using looking-time measures, the authors examined untrained chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) ability to distinguish between adequate and inadequate support. In 3 experiments, the chimpanzees' sensitivity to different support relations between 2 objects was assessed. In each experiment, the chimpanzees saw a possible and an impossible test event, presented as digital video clips. Looking times in the 3 experiments suggest that chimpanzees use amount of contact between 2 objects, but not type of contact, to distinguish between adequate and inadequate support relations. These results indicate that chimpanzees have some intuition about support phenomena but their sensitivity to relational object properties may differ from that of human infants (Homo sapiens) in this domain.     

Central issue importance as a function of gender and ethnicity

A recent theoretical model of centrality (Bernstein, 1987; Bernstein, Hofmann, Santiago, & Diebolt, 1989) suggests that the importance attached to certain “central issues” may increase the vulnerability of individuals to distress and depression, and may explain the differential rates of depression among gender, racial, and ethnic groups. The present study was designed to examine the importance of central issues as reported by Anglo, Black, and Hispanic men and women (N=169). Multivariate analyses revealed significant gender, ethnicity, and gender X ethnicity effects. Specifically, women considered Intimacy significantly more important than did men, whereas men attached more importance than women to Affiliation. Anglos rated Achievement significantly higher than did Hispanics and Blacks; Hispanics considered Affiliation more important than the other two groups; and Blacks considered Intimacy the least important among the groups. Moreover, Hispanic men attributed significantly greater importance to Change, Adventure, and Control, whereas Hispanic women attached the least significance among all the groups to Control. The results are discussed in terms of cultural influences on sex role orientation and central issues, and the process by which culture and ethnicity may be related to vulnerability to depression and distress.     

An evolutionary analysis of psychological pain following human (Homo sapiens) rape: IV. The effect of the nature of the sexual assault

Mental pain is hypothesized to manifest an adaptation for analyzing and coping with social problems that would have reduced inclusive fitness in human (Homo sapiens) evolutionary history. We examined this hypothesis in the psychological pain of 790 rape victims. Reproductive-aged and postreproductive-aged victims were more likely than prereproductive-aged victims to have experienced vaginal intercourse and to have had sperm present in the reproductive tract. As predicted, vaginal intercourse constituted the most psychologically devastating form of sexual assault for reproductive-aged women. Nonreproductive-aged victims were not more traumatized by vaginal rapes. When rapes included ejaculation in the victim's reproductive tract, reproductive-aged victims may have been more traumatized. These results suggest that the psychology that regulates mental pain processes information about the nature of the sexual act in the event of a woman's rape.     

Spatial ability and home-range size: examining the relationship in Western men and women (Homo sapiens)

In mammals, spatial sex differences may have coevolved with sex differences in the size of home ranges. This study first evaluated whether, in keeping with most mammals and traditional human (Homo sapiens) societies, home ranges are larger in male than in female Westerners. Second, it established whether navigation patterns are associated with a broader set of spatial abilities in men than in women. Results showed that current male home ranges surpass female home ranges. Ranging was also positively correlated with achievement in tests of mental rotation, surface development, and location memory among men only, whereas it was associated with embedded figures scores in both sexes. Overall, these findings substantiate the adaptive role of several spatial sex differences in humans.