霊長類の視知覚への比較認知科学的アプローチ

抄録

Comparative cognitive science aims to clarify the characteristics of human and nonhuman animal mind from an evolutionary perspective, comparing their perceptual and cognitive functions and identifying similarities and differences between the characteristics of different species. This article reviews studies of chimpanzee and human visual perception as an example of comparative cognitive approaches to primate visual perception. While such comparative studies can clarify the intrinsic characteristics of human mind from an evolutionary perspective, a simple comparison of task performance between species may be insufficient to specify what evolutionary factors influence a particular cognitive function. Many factors differ among different species, such as locomotion, body construction, and preferred habitat, and any single factor, or possibly combinations of them, may account for the cognitive difference between the species. A more precise understanding of the evolution of cognition requires comprehensive and integrative analyses of animal minds linking the various perceptual and cognitive processes in each species.