Journal article
The social brain: mind, language, and society in evolutionary perspective
- Abstract:
- The social brain (or Machiavellian Intelligence) hypothesis was proposed to explain primates' unusually large brains: It argues that the cognitive demands of living in complexly bonded social groups selected for increases in executive brain (principally neocortex). The evidence for this and alternative hypotheses is reviewed. Although there remain difficulties of interpretation, the bulk of the evidence comes down in favor of the social brain hypothesis. The extent to which the cognitive demands of bonding large intensely social groups involve aspects of social cognition, such as theory ofmind, is explored. These findings are then related to the evolution of social group size, language, and culture within the hominid lineage.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Authors
- Publisher:
- Annual Reviews
- Journal:
- Annual Review of Anthropology More from this journal
- Volume:
- 32
- Pages:
- 163-181
- Publication date:
- 2003-10-01
- DOI:
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Subjects:
- UUID:
-
uuid:96b41ca4-d7ae-4234-9506-d97569f922ee
- Local pid:
-
ora:4892
- Deposit date:
-
2011-02-03
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Annual Reviews
- Copyright date:
- 2003
- Notes:
- The full-text of this article is not currently available in ORA, but you may be able to access the article via the publisher copy link on this record page. N.B. Professor Dunbar is now based at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oxford.
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