Becoming human : a theory of ontogeny / Michael Tomasello.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tomasello, Michael, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Developmental psychology.

Ontogeny.

Socialization.

Evolutionary psychology.

Behavior evolution.

Physical Description:

x, 379 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019.

Summary:

Virtually all theories of how humans have become such a distinctive species focus on evolution. Here, Michael Tomasello proposes a complementary theory of human uniqueness, focused on ontogenetic processes. His data-driven model explains how those things that make us most human are constructed during the first years of a child's life. Tomasello assembles nearly three decades of experimental work with chimpanzees, bonobos, and human children to propose a new framework for psychological development between birth and seven years of age. He identifies eight pathways that starkly differentiate humans from their closest primate relatives: social cognition, communication, cultural learning, cooperative thinking, collaboration, prosociality, social norms, and moral identity. In each of these, great apes possess rudimentary abilities. But then, Tomasello argues, the maturation of humans' evolved capacities for shared intentionality transform these abilities into uniquely human cognition and sociality. The first step occurs around nine months, with the emergence of joint intentionality, exercised mostly with caregiving adults. The second step occurs around three years, with the emergence of collective intentionality involving both authoritative adults, who convey cultural knowledge, and coequal peers, who elicit collaboration and communication. Finally, by age six or seven, children become responsible for self-regulating their beliefs and actions so that they comport with cultural norms. Built on the essential ideas of Lev Vygotsky, Becoming Human places human sociocultural activity within the framework of modern evolutionary theory, and shows how biology creates the conditions under which culture does its work.-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

I. Background: In search of human uniqueness

Evolutionary foundations

II. The ontogeny of uniquely human cognition: Social cognition

Communication

Cultural learning

Cooperative thinking

III. The ontogeny of uniquely human sociality: Collaboration

Prosociality

Social norms

Moral identity

IV. Conclusion: A neo-Vygotskian theory

The power of shared agency.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674980853

0674980859

OCLC:

1028612527