Böcker av Michael Tomasello

Virtually all theories of how humans have become a distinctive species focus on evolution. Here, Michael Tomasello proposes a complementary theory focused on ontogenetic processes. Built on the essential ideas of Vygotsky, his data-driven model explains how those things that make us most human are constructed during the first six years of life.

"A scientific analysis of agency in the real world-which animal types have it and which don't-written by the top researcher in the field"--

Bridging evolutionary theory and cultural psychology, Tomasello argues that the roots of the human capacity for symbol-based culture are based in a cluster of uniquely human cognitive capacities. These include capacities for understanding that others have intentions of their own, and for imitating what someone else has intended to do.

The influence of culture on cognitive development is well established for school age and older children. But almost nothing is known about how different parenting and socialization practices in different cultures affect infants' and young children's earliest emerging cognitive and social-cognitive skills.

This Monograph reports a series of ten studies on the social-cognitive abilities of three young chimpanzees, ages to four years. * Compares outcomes to similar studies conducted on human infacts for a comparative understanding.

The Gestural Communication of Apes and Monkeys is an intriguing compilation of naturalistic and experimental research conducted over the course of 20 years on gestural communication in primates, as well as a comparison to what is known about the vocal communication of nonhuman primates.