Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:00:47.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ultrasociality and the division of cognitive labor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2016

Nicholaus Samuel Noles
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292. n.noles@louisville.eduj.danovitch@louisville.eduhttp://louisville.edu/psychology/noleshttp://louisville.edu/psychology/danovitch
Judith Harmony Danovitch
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292. n.noles@louisville.eduj.danovitch@louisville.eduhttp://louisville.edu/psychology/noleshttp://louisville.edu/psychology/danovitch

Abstract

Gowdy & Krall describe the development of ultrasociality in terms of economics and the division of labor. We propose that the division of cognitive labor allows humans to behave in an ultrasocial manner without the radical evolutionary changes that are experienced by other species, suggesting that species may traverse different paths to achieve ultrasociality.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Danovitch, J. H. & Keil, F. C. (2004) Should you ask a fisherman or a biologist? Developmental shifts in ways of clustering knowledge. Child Development 75:918–31.Google Scholar
Keil, F. C., Stein, C., Webb, L., Billings, V. & Rozenblit, L. (2008) Discerning the division of cognitive labor: An emerging understanding of how knowledge is clustered in other minds. Cognitive Science 32:259300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenig, M. A. & Jaswal, V. K. (2011) Characterizing children's expectations about expertise and incompetence: Halo or pitchfork effects? Child Development 82:1634–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landrum, A. R. & Mills, C. M. (2015) Developing expectations regarding the boundaries of expertise. Cognition 134:215–31.Google Scholar
Lutz, D. J. & Keil, F. C. (2002) Early understanding of the division of cognitive labor. Child Development 73:1073–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed