After a specific point in history, hominin evolution accelerated to a level that could not be accounted for by natural selection alone. However, an alternative mechanism has been proposed that is based on a mutual interaction between neural, cognitive, and ecological niches in a positive feedback loop (i.e., Triadic Niche Construction [TNC]). Nevertheless, the trigger events for the cognitive revolution of Homo sapiens and the reasons this event is limited to a single species remain unknown. This paper proposes a shift in the mechanisms underlying TNC from TNC-1 in primates/hominids to TNC-2 in Homo sapiens to answer these questions. As the primate and hominin brains expanded during TNC-1, latent cognitive capabilities were incubated within its domain-specific cognitive neural framework, which advanced to be expressed in a domain-general manner with a simple rewiring among brain areas in TNC-2. This process was quick and inexpensive but one that required a unique set of preconditions to commence. This process was bootstrapped by using the function of stimulus equivalence, which enabled humans to recognize the “self” in a particular time and space in the world, thereby allowing the manipulation of this world in a positive feedback loop.

The evolution of altruism in human societies has been intensively investigated in social and natural sciences. A widely acknowledged recent idea is the “parochial altruism model,” which suggests that intergroup hostility and intragroup altruism can coevolve through lethal intergroup conflicts. The current article critically examines this idea by reviewing research relevant to intergroup conflicts in human evolutionary history from evolutionary biology, psychology, cultural anthropology, and archaeology. After a brief introduction, section 2 illustrates the mathematical model of parochial altruism and some critiques of the model and its interpretation, primarily from an evolutionary biology point of view. Section 3 delves into the archaeological evidence of prehistoric intergroup conflicts in the Japanese archipelago’s Jomon and Yayoi periods, Europe’s Mesolithic period, and North America’s Pacific period as counter examples of the parochial altruism model. In section 4, the ethnographies of intergroup relationships and conflicts reveal that intergroup relationships in many ethnic groups are not as simple as the assumption in the mathematical model of parochial altruism. In section 5, we outline psychological research on intergroup conflicts which suggest that intergroup hostility and ingroup altruism are not necessarily correlated. In conclusion, we argue that the assumption and parameter settings of the parochial altruism model are inconsistent with empirical data.

Multidisciplinary research on human evolution and history has attracted increasing attention in the last two decades. This manuscript discusses the role of social sciences in understanding human history. The core of social sciences is the idea that social phenomena are irreducible to individual minds. Three main reasons exist. First, behaviors are often caused by external factors and internal factors such as preferences and motivations. Second, macrolevel social phenomena are often the unintended consequences of individuals’ behaviors at the microlevel. Third, individual minds and social phenomena are often interdependent. Three theoretical approaches that focus on the dynamic interaction between individual minds and environments that humans ought to adapt are then introduced. They are the gene–culture coevolution approach, the triadic niche construction approach, and the social niche construction approach. After discussing the characteristics of these approaches, the manuscript ends with speculation of the matching between theoretical approaches and the aspects of human history and proposes the need for applying multiple approaches.

Visual cognition varies from person to person. Cultural and environmental differences can explain this variation to a certain degree. As cognition shifts, new cultures and environments are created, based on these changes. Thus, this shift can be thought of as a process of mutual coevolution throughout the history of humankind. However, our understanding of how culture and environment change visual cognition remains incomplete. In this paper, we review cross-cultural studies in visual cognition and discuss the framework through which differences in visual cognition are generated, based on cultural evolution. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of examining visual cognition beyond limited regional comparisons and relevant strategies to understand better the diversity in visual cognition that emerges through interaction with the environment.

Ueda, Otsuka, and Saiki (2022) reviewed studies investigating the influence of cultural dependency on basic psychological processes, including visual perception and cognition. Based on their extensive review, they introduced the theory of cultural evolution and discussed its significance in advancing cross-cultural studies. They also discussed the significance of collecting large-scale data through international collaborations with scholars to globalize psychology. In this commentary, as one group of cultural psychologists, we discussed the significance and implications of their suggestion for advancing psychological sciences.

A fundamental question is how cultural phenomena are created (i.e., how cultures are formed and maintained, and why different cultures have emerged). One approach to this question is to focus on the possibility that genes and sociocultural environments have coevolved and interacted. This review highlights empirical findings on the coevolution of genes and culture and the genetic basis of sociocultural differences including Western and Eastern cultural differences. Moreover, this review refers to the problem of false-positive associations between gene polymorphism and behavioral traits in the studies on gene and culture coevolution and interaction. Future directions and research strategies in studies on gene and culture coevolution and interaction are discussed.

In recent years, research on the relationship between behavior and genes in humans has made great progress. Accumulation in classical behavioral genetics has indicated that any individual difference in behavior has a significant genetic effect. Technical advances in molecular biology have led to the identification of specific candidate genes associated with behavior and the verification of epigenetic effects. Detecting a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and calculating the polygenic scores of psychological and behavioral traits at the individual level have become possible. The polygenic score of the educational year is an indirect index of intellectual ability, explains 16% of the variance in educational attainment, and allows scientists to visualize how heredity is associated with socially important traits such as socioeconomic status. In light of these trends, psychology and the human sciences need to overcome their animosity toward heredity and move forward with genetic research.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the state of mind of ancient people that made music possible from the perspective of cognitive archaeology, based on materials related to prehistoric musical instruments excavated in Japan and other parts of the world. First, I will describe the findings from articles from around the world such as a 40,000-year-old Paleolithic bone horn excavated in southwestern Germany and clay bells, flutes, and bronze bells from the Jomon and Yayoi periods excavated in Japan. I will then explain the current state of research on the evolution of music. Based on these studies, the following three perspectives will be presented: (1) the production techniques and materials of musical instruments, (2) the sounds produced by musical instruments, and (3) the social conditions of the time when the musical instruments were used. Based on these points, I will discuss the process by which a mind for music is formed and developed.

In human evolution, cognitive niche construction has been a focus of much attention. This interest stems from how our behavior has accelerated the development of human cognitive functions, thereby leading to brain growth and further cultural evolution. Many studies have demonstrated similarities between the cognitive bases of stone tool production and language. However, how art, a typical modern human behavior, is related to these behaviors remains unclear. A comparative study of the drawings of human children and chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, suggested that the latter have differences in the visual imagination of pareidolia, which may be related to language acquisition and the origin of art. However, some examples exist of chimpanzees’ imagination through representational play via manipulating objects. In this study, we consider the phylogenetic development of object play, tool use, toolmaking, language, and art in the process of human evolution from the perspective of cognitive niche construction with examples of chimpanzee representational play.

Facial appearance is a salient source of social information that affects various social interactions. Humans are inclined to infer personality, health, and behavioral tendencies of others from facial appearance, although this inference is not necessarily accurate. This article reviews recent human and nonhuman primate research to understand the evolution and origin of face-based trait inferences. This review revealed that the tendency to make trait inferences from facial appearance can occur in nonhuman primates, which indicate that face-based trait inferences are not unique to humans. Moreover, nonhuman primates also appear to utilize facial features unique to their own species when making social judgments. Despite the paucity of nonhuman primate studies, the phylogenetic comparison of face-based trait inferences provides valuable insights into the evolution and origin of human social perception.