Psychology Colloquia

Abstract:: We propose that the crucial difference between human cognition and that of other species is the ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions: shared intentionality. Participation in such activities requires not only especially powerful forms of intention-reading and cultural learning, but also a unique motivation to share psychological states with others and unique forms of cognitive representation for doing so. The result of participating in these activities is species-unique forms of cultural cognition. Support for this proposal is provided by systematic reviews of empirical research with human children (including those with autism) and great apes.
About the Speaker:: Born in Bartow, Florida, Dr. Tomasello received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Georgia in 1980. He has taught at Emory University, worked at the Yerkes Primate Center (Atlanta), and has received honorary professorships from both the University of Leipzig and Manchester University. In addition, he holds the title of co-director at both the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (1998-present), and the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center (2001-present).

For More Information About This Speaker:

http://email.eva.mpg.de/~tomas/
Dr. Tomasello's website.

University of California, San Diego
Homepage Calendar Directions Past Events Psych Homepage UCSD Homepage	The Department of Psychology is Honored to Present The Norman Anderson Distinguished Speaker Series Michael Tomasello Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology "Understanding and Sharing Intentions: the Origins of Cultural Cognition" Presented on May 31, 2006 Location: The Crick Conference Room Mandler Hall, room 3545 Abstract: We propose that the crucial difference between human cognition and that of other species is the ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions: shared intentionality. Participation in such activities requires not only especially powerful forms of intention-reading and cultural learning, but also a unique motivation to share psychological states with others and unique forms of cognitive representation for doing so. The result of participating in these activities is species-unique forms of cultural cognition. Support for this proposal is provided by systematic reviews of empirical research with human children (including those with autism) and great apes. About the Speaker: Born in Bartow, Florida, Dr. Tomasello received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Georgia in 1980. He has taught at Emory University, worked at the Yerkes Primate Center (Atlanta), and has received honorary professorships from both the University of Leipzig and Manchester University. In addition, he holds the title of co-director at both the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (1998-present), and the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center (2001-present). For More Information About This Speaker: http://email.eva.mpg.de/~tomas/ Dr. Tomasello's website.
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