Becoming human : a theory of ontogeny / Michael Tomasello.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tomasello, Michael, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Developmental psychology.

Evolutionary psychology.

Ontogeny.

Socialization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 379 pages) ; illustrations

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

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:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

I. Background

Chapter 1. In Search of Human Uniqueness

Chapter 2. Evolutionary Foundations

II. The Ontogeny of Uniquely Human Cognition

Introduction

Chapter 3. Social Cognition

Chapter 4. Communication

Chapter 5. Cultural Learning

Chapter 6. Cooperative Thinking

III. The Ontogeny of Uniquely Human Sociality

Chapter 7. Collaboration

Chapter 8. Prosociality

Chapter 9. Social Norms

Chapter 10. Moral Identity

IV. Conclusion

Chapter 11. A Neo-Vygotskian Theory

Chapter 12. The Power of Shared Agency

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prose Award. Psychology, 2020.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 19. Feb 2019)

ISBN:

9780674988637

0674988639

9780674988651

0674988655

OCLC:

1076271709