Cognitive Evolution Research Articles

Evolving Minds and Riding Waves: Development and Progress in ChatGPT

This research paper delves into the dynamic evolution of ChatGPT, a foremost conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) model, with a focus on its developmental journey and progressive advancements. Termed "Evolving Minds" and "Riding Waves," we investigate the intricate interplay between cognitive evolution and the dynamic trajectory of progress. Through a comprehensive methodological framework encompassing historical analysis, comparative studies, and trend assessment, we meticulously trace ChatGPT's developmental milestones and transformative shifts. Our inquiry extends into the underlying mechanisms propelling its advancement within the landscape of conversational AI. By unravelling these mechanisms, our research aims to provide insights into the fundamental drivers of AI-driven conversation evolution. By shedding light on ChatGPT's evolution, we seek to deepen the understanding of the dynamics shaping progress in this swiftly evolving domain. Ultimately, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the future trajectory of conversational AI and its potential implications across various sectors and applications. Through a nuanced examination of ChatGPT's evolution, we aim to inform future developments and pave the way for innovative advancements in AI-driven conversation technologies. Key Words: ChatGPT, Artificial Intelligence, progress, innovative.

Comparing cognition across major transitions using the hierarchy of formal automata.

The evolution of cognition can be understood in terms of a few major transitions-changes in the computational architecture of nervous systems that changed what cognitive capacities could be evolved by downstream lineages. We demonstrate how the idea of a major cognitive transition can be modeled in terms of where a system's effective computational architecture falls on the well-studied hierarchy of formal automata (HFA). We then use recent work connecting artificial neural networks to the HFA, which provides a way to make the structure-architecture link in natural systems. We conclude with reflections on the power and the challenges of traditional thinking when applied to neural architectures. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Psychology > Comparative Philosophy > Foundations of Cognitive Science.

The Lower Paleolithic Engravings of Bilzingsleben, Germany

Some of the earliest known engravings are described, analyzed, and interpreted, following their microscopic examination. They are of significance in exploring the cognitive evolution of hominins several hundred thousand years ago and have not been described together before. The Steinrinne site near Bilzingsleben, north of Weimar, Germany, is one of Europe’s most important Lower Paleolithic occupation sites. Its extensive human habitation floor, excavated over 1000 square meters, comprises some of the world’s oldest evidence of dwellings, broadly matching or exceeding the age of examples proposed in Africa, India, and France. It has yielded numerous hominin remains, many wooden artefacts, other exquisitely preserved organic remains, and more portable engravings than any other Middle Pleistocene site. The latter are reviewed here, presenting the results of a detailed microscopic examination of the main finds. Bilzingsleben has so far produced the largest number of engraved Lower Paleolithic objects reported, which are particularly important to exploring the cognitive developments of hominins.

Reconsidering the link between past material culture and cognition in light of contemporary hunter-gatherer material use.

Many have interpreted symbolic material culture in the deep past as evidencing the origins sophisticated, modern cognition. Scholars from across the behavioural and cognitive sciences, including linguists, psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists, primatologists, archaeologists and paleoanthropologists have used such artefacts to assess the capacities of extinct human species, and to set benchmarks, milestones or otherwise chart the course of human cognitive evolution. To better calibrate our expectations, the present paper instead explores the material culture of three contemporary African forager groups. Results show that, while these groups are unequivocally behaviourally modern, they would leave scant long-lasting evidence of symbolic behaviour. Artefact-sets are typically small, perhaps as consequence of residential mobility. When excluding traded materials, few artefacts have components with moderate-strong taphonomic signatures. Present analyses show that artefact function influences preservation probability, such that utilitarian tools for the processing of materials and the preparation of food are disproportionately likely to contain archaeologically traceable components. There are substantial differences in material-use between populations, which create important population-level variation preservation probability independent of cognitive differences. I discuss the factors - cultural, ecological and practical - that influence material choice. In so doing, I highlight the difficulties of using past material culture as an evolutionary or cognitive yardstick.

Sociological genealogy of a non-teleological concept of evolution.

The aim of this article is to carry out a sociological-conceptual genealogy of the evolutionist perspective (non-teleological) of approaching social reality. While during the first phases of modernity, a teleological and progressive conception of evolution was imposed, clearly manifested in the proposals of Auguste Comte or Herbert Spencer, in the last decades important bifurcations, processes, and developments have emerged that question the linearity and the finalist character of these positions. We consider that these approaches are closer to the nature of change and social phenomena, so it seems important to us to analyze some of the most outstanding contributions-in the form of sociological genealogy, as we have already mentioned-that have developed this perspective. In order to carry out our task, we have organized four sections: In the first, we make a critique of the sociological evolutionism represented by Comte, Spencer, and Parsons, focusing on the limits of their proposals and the blind spots associated with them. Second, we will analyze the anti-teleological cognitive approaches of Donald and the importance they attach to cultural transmission as a key element for understanding the evolution of both cognition and human societies. In a third moment, we will analyze the coexistence in Weber's work between the dynamics of 'disenchantment' and 're-enchantment' of the world in modern societies, understood as the two sides of the same coin that are in constant dynamic tension and that break with the evolutionary vision that goes from magic through religion to science, or from belief to knowledge. In a fourth moment, we analyze the relevance of approaches focused on what we have called 'multiple evolutions' (plural) that collide with each other-the conflicting simultaneity of the non-simultaneous-of their rhythms and directions, inspired by the works of Knöbl, Koselleck, Luhmann, Rosa, Eisenstadt, Abbott, and Zerubavel, which pave the way for the construction of a non-teleological approach to evolution.

Comparative anatomy of the Sapajus sp. (bearded capuchin) hand with comments on tool use in a parallel evolution with the hominid pathway.

Introduction: Bearded capuchins display a wide variety of manipulatory skills and make routine use of tools in both captivity and the wild. The efficient handling of objects in this genus has led several investigators to assume near-human thumb movements, despite a lack of anatomical studies. Methods: Here, we performed an anatomical analysis of muscles and bones in the capuchin hand. Sapajus morphological traits were quantitatively compared with those of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and baboons. Results: The comparative analysis indicated that the Sapajus hand is more similar to that of baboons and least similar to that of humans according to the muscles, bones, and three-dimensional data. Furthermore, these findings suggest that bearded capuchins lack true thumb opponency. Regarding manipulatory skills, they display rather primitive hand traits, with limited resources for precision grasping using the opponens pollicis. Discussion: These findings suggest that bearded capuchins' complex use of tools depends more heavily on their high cognitive abilities than on a versatile hand apparatus. These findings offer crucial insights into the evolution of primate cognition.

Co-evolution of heterogeneous cognition in spatial snowdrift game with asymmetric cost.

The emergence of the evolutionary game on complex networks provides a fresh framework for studying cooperation behavior between complex populations. Numerous recent progress has been achieved in studying asymmetric games. However, there is still a substantial need to address how to flexibly express the individual asymmetric nature. In this paper, we employ mutual cognition among individuals to elucidate the asymmetry inherent in their interactions. Cognition arises from individuals' subjective assessments and significantly influences their decision-making processes. In social networks, mutual cognition among individuals is a persistent phenomenon and frequently displays heterogeneity as the influence of their interactions. This unequal cognitive dynamic will, in turn, influence the interactions, culminating in asymmetric outcomes. To better illustrate the inter-individual cognition in asymmetric snowdrift games, the concept of favor value is introduced here. On this basis, the evolution of cognition and its relationship with asymmetry degree are defined. In our simulation, we investigate how game cost and the intensity of individual cognitive changes impact the cooperation frequency. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of individual cognition and its variation under different parameters was also examined. The simulation results reveal that the emergence of heterogeneous cognition effectively addresses social dilemmas, with asymmetric interactions among individuals enhancing the propensity for cooperative choices. It is noteworthy that distinctions exist in the rules governing cooperation and cognitive evolution between regular networks and Watts-Strogatz small-world networks. In light of this, we deduce the relationship between cognition evolution and cooperative behavior in co-evolution and explore potential factors influencing cooperation within the system.

Negative Space: An Alternative Framework for Archaeoacoustics.

Hearing the remote past seems impossible. Archaeoacoustics is a contemporary field intent on reconstructing the evolution of early communication systems, offering the possibility of developing methodologies relating to past sound signaling and music. Through a contribution of the emerging sensory field of archaeoacoustics and an example of acoustic assessments conducted at the site of Coves del Toll, can we understand signals of the past in order to investigate human behaviour and trace its cognitive evolution? This paper explores alternative methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding prehistoric sonic behaviours in early hominids and aims to set out a framework to theoretically and philosophically approach the "sound record" of the past. The theoretical proposition of this paper integrates the musical and sound art disciplines of spectralism and sound ecology to challenge the current limitations of listening to sound.

Cognitive archaeology, and the psychological assessment of extinct minds.

Evolutionary anthropology relies on both neontological and paleontological information. In the latter case, fields such as paleoneurology, neuroarchaeology, and cognitive archaeology are supplying new perspectives in prehistory and neuroscience. Cognitive archaeology, in particular, investigates the behaviors associated with extinct species or cultures according to specific psychological models. For example, changes in working memory, attention, or visuospatial integration can be postulated when related behavioral changes are described in the archaeological record. However, cognition is a process based on different and partially independent functional elements, and extinct species could hence have evolved distinct combinations of cognitive abilities or features, based on both quantitative and qualitative differences. Accordingly, differences in working memory can lead to more conceptual or more holistic mindsets, with important changes in the perception and management of the mental experience. The parietal cortex is particularly interesting, in this sense, being involved in functions associated with body-tool integration, attention, and visual imaging. In some cases, evolutionary mismatches among these elements can induce drawbacks that, despite their positive effects on natural selection, can introduce important constraints in our own mental skills. Beyond the theoretical background, some hypotheses can be tested following methods in experimental psychology. In any case, theories in cognitive evolution must acknowledge that, beyond the brain and its biology, the human mind is also deeply rooted in body perception, in social networks, and in technological extension.

Enhancing Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Teaching Performance Through Action Research

Action research supports and empowers pre-service teachers as they plan lessons, act in the practicum, observe, and reflect on their teaching experiences. This study presents a professional development program based on action research to provide pre-service teachers with effective teaching skills in the EFL classroom and improve their students' language performance. The researcher implemented the training program for twelve male EFL majors enrolled in their practicum using a mixed-methods approach. By incorporating both individual and group experiences, action research improved pre-service teachers' understanding of methodology, encouraged reflection on their beliefs, tacit knowledge, and teaching practice, and assisted in the development of their teaching and learning theories. The findings show that pre-service teachers' performance improved significantly during and after receiving training. Additionally, there was substantial improvement in the students' overall language performance as well as their performance in each language category (vocabulary, grammar, listening, reading, and writing). It is concluded that action research fostered the cognitive evolution of these pre-service teachers and encouraged their synthesis of teaching theory and practice. These benefits of action research mark the beginning of a journey toward becoming a professional educator who can enhance both teaching practice and student outcomes.

Construction of a Type Knowledge Graph Based on the Value Cognitive Turn of Characteristic Villages: An Application in Jixi, Anhui Province, China

Currently, Chinese villages are grappling with the issue of regional value collapse within the long-standing ‘urban-rural dual system’ strategy. Characteristic villages, as integral components of the urban–rural hierarchical spatial system and pivotal agents in rural development, wield significant influence in addressing China’s rural crises. The construction practice of characteristic villages showcases the cognitive evolution of ‘element-industry-function-type’. Within the value perception of characteristic villages, these practices reflect fundamental orientations in the interaction between humans and land, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between production, life, and ecology. In alignment with this value perception, and drawing upon the existing studies on the classification of characteristic village types in Jixi County, this paper establishes a comprehensive type knowledge graph of characteristic villages. The framework of this graph’s expression revolves around ‘spatial elements-spatial combination-spatial organization’. This graph delineates a knowledge progression encompassing ‘information-knowledge-strategy’, characterized by three levels: the factual knowledge graph, conceptual knowledge graph and regular knowledge graph. The type knowledge graph systematically accumulates insights derived from the spatiotemporal transmission path of the village spatial structure. It formulates a structured progression of knowledge as follows: cognition of the village entity information → analysis of the village landscape structure → examination of the village social relationships. This constructed graph translates type-data information into spatial strategy knowledge, serving as a pivotal process in amalgamating characteristic village spatial data with semantic networks, particularly in expressing authenticity inspection and gene transfer.

Investigating belief understanding in children in a nonverbal ambiguous displacement and communication setting

Finding ways to investigate false belief understanding nonverbally is not just important for preverbal children but also is the only way to assess theory of mind (ToM)-like abilities in nonhuman animals. In this preregistered study, we adapted the design from a previous study on pet dogs to investigate false belief understanding in children and to compare it with belief understanding of those previously tested dogs. A total of 32 preschool children (aged 5–6 years) saw the displacement of a reward and obtained nonverbal cueing of the empty container from an adult communicator holding either a true or false belief. In the false belief condition, when the communicator did not know the location of the reward, children picked the baited container, but not the cued container, more often than the empty one. In the true belief condition, when the communicator witnessed the displacement yet still cued the wrong container, children performed randomly. The children’s behavior pattern was at odds with that of the dogs tested in a previous study, which picked the cued container more often when the human communicator held a false belief. In addition to species comparisons, because our task does not require verbal responses or relational sentence understanding, it can also be used in preverbal children. The children in our study behaved in line with the existing ToM literature, whereas most (but not all) dogs from the previously collected sample, although sensitive to differences between the belief conditions, deviated from the children. This difference suggests that using closely matched paradigms and experimental procedures can reveal decisive differences in belief processing between species. It also demonstrates the need for a more comprehensive exploration and direct comparison of the various aspects of false belief processing and ToM in different species to understand the evolution of social cognition.

Disentangling the evolution of cognition: Learning in Cnidaria

Disentangling the evolution of cognition: Learning in Cnidaria

Evidence for a selective link between cooperation and individual recognition

The ability to recognize others is a frequent assumption of models of the evolution of cooperation. At the same time, cooperative behavior has been proposed as a selective agent favoring the evolution of individual recognition abilities. Although theory predicts that recognition and cooperation may co-evolve, data linking recognition abilities and cooperative behavior with evidence of selection are elusive. Here, we provide evidence of a selective link between individual recognition and cooperation in the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus through a combination of clinal, common garden, and population genomics analyses. We identified latitudinal clines in both rates of cooperative nesting and color pattern diversity, consistent with a selective link between recognition and cooperation. In behavioral experiments, we replicated previous results demonstrating individual recognition in cooperative and phenotypically diverse P.fuscatus from New York. In contrast, wasps from a less cooperative and phenotypically uniform Louisiana population showed no evidence of individual recognition. In a common garden experiment, groups of wasps from northern populations formed more stable and individually biased associations, indicating that recognition facilitates group stability. The strength of recent positive selection on cognition-associated loci likely to mediate individual recognition is substantially greater in northern compared with southern P.fuscatus populations. Collectively, these data suggest that individual recognition and cooperative nesting behavior have co-evolved in P.fuscatus because recognition helps stabilize social groups. This work provides evidence of a specific cognitive phenotype under selection because of social interactions, supporting the idea that social behavior can be a key driver of cognitive evolution.

Cellular computation and cognition

Contemporary neural network models often overlook a central biological fact about neural processing: that single neurons are themselves complex, semi-autonomous computing systems. Both the information processing and information storage abilities of actual biological neurons vastly exceed the simple weighted sum of synaptic inputs computed by the “units” in standard neural network models. Neurons are eukaryotic cells that store information not only in synapses, but also in their dendritic structure and connectivity, as well as genetic “marking” in the epigenome of each individual cell. Each neuron computes a complex nonlinear function of its inputs, roughly equivalent in processing capacity to an entire 1990s-era neural network model. Furthermore, individual cells provide the biological interface between gene expression, ongoing neural processing, and stored long-term memory traces. Neurons in all organisms have these properties, which are thus relevant to all of neuroscience and cognitive biology. Single-cell computation may also play a particular role in explaining some unusual features of human cognition. The recognition of the centrality of cellular computation to “natural computation” in brains, and of the constraints it imposes upon brain evolution, thus has important implications for the evolution of cognition, and how we study it.

Impact of Ecological Momentary Interventions on Regulatory Strategies of Perceived Stress at Work: An Exploratory Study Based on the Application "MON SHERPA” Used in an Ecological Context

Based on ICT, specifically smartphones and their mobile apps, this exploratory study questions the impact of EMIs on employees' perceived stress during workdays. A sample of 15 workers, working at least 3 days a week and divided into one control group (n=5) and one experimental group (n=10), used an EMI application called "Mon Sherpa" for one week. Participants responded to two questionnaires at the beginning of the study: a sociodemographic questionnaire and the PSM-9 (Psychological Stress Measure). They completed the PSM-9 once again in the middle and at the end of the experiment to compare the score's evolution depending on the formed groups. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants of the experimental group (n=9) to identify their perception of the application. The statistical results indicated no effects of the EMIs. However, interviews indicated somatic, behavioral, and cognitive evolution throughout the experiment in the field of stress, anxiety, and invasive thoughts. These conflicting results might be explained by an immediate but not lasting effect of EMIs on work-related stress. It may also be partly explained by some limitations of the study. More cross-disciplinary and larger research is required.

Life history impacts on infancy and the evolution of human social cognition.

Greater longevity, slower maturation and shorter birth intervals are life history features that distinguish humans from the other living members of our hominid family, the great apes. Theory and evidence synthesized here suggest the evolution of those features can explain both our bigger brains and our cooperative sociality. I rely on Sarah Hrdy's hypothesis that survival challenges for ancestral infants propelled the evolution of distinctly human socioemotional appetites and Barbara Finlay and colleagues' findings that mammalian brain size is determined by developmental duration. Similar responsiveness to varying developmental contexts in chimpanzee and human one-year-olds suggests similar infant responsiveness in our nearest common ancestor. Those ancestral infants likely began to acquire solid food while still nursing and fed themselves at weaning as chimpanzees and other great apes do now. When human ancestors colonized habitats lacking foods that infants could handle, dependents' survival became contingent on subsidies. Competition to engage subsidizers selected for capacities and tendencies to enlist and maintain social connections during the early wiring of expanding infant brains with lifelong consequences that Hrdy labeled "emotionally modern" social cognition.

The nature of knowledge and human cognitive evolution

The nature of knowledge and human cognitive evolution

The deep past in the virtual present: developing an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding the psychological foundations of palaeolithic cave art

Virtual Reality (VR) has vast potential for developing systematic, interdisciplinary studies to understand ephemeral behaviours in the archaeological record, such as the emergence and development of visual culture. Upper Palaeolithic cave art forms the most robust record for investigating this and the methods of its production, themes, and temporal and spatial changes have been researched extensively, but without consensus over its functions or meanings. More compelling arguments draw from visual psychology and posit that the immersive, dark conditions of caves elicited particular psychological responses, resulting in the perception—and depiction—of animals on suggestive features of cave walls. Our research developed and piloted a novel VR experiment that allowed participants to perceive 3D models of cave walls, with the Palaeolithic art digitally removed, from El Castillo cave (Cantabria, Spain). Results indicate that modern participants’ visual attention corresponded to the same topographic features of cave walls utilised by Palaeolithic artists, and that they perceived such features as resembling animals. Although preliminary, our results support the hypothesis that pareidolia—a product of our cognitive evolution—was a key mechanism in Palaeolithic art making, and demonstrates the potential of interdisciplinary VR research for understanding the evolution of art, and demonstrate the potential efficacy of the methodology.

Chimpanzees make tactical use of high elevation in territorial contexts.

Tactical warfare is considered a driver of the evolution of human cognition. One such tactic, considered unique to humans, is collective use of high elevation in territorial conflicts. This enables early detection of rivals and low-risk maneuvers, based on information gathered. Whether other animals use such tactics is unknown. With a unique dataset of 3 years of simultaneous behavioral and ranging data on 2 neighboring groups of western chimpanzees, from the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, we tested whether chimpanzees make decisions consistent with tactical use of topography to gain an advantage over rivals. We show that chimpanzees are more likely to use high hills when traveling to, rather than away from, the border where conflict typically takes place. Once on border hills, chimpanzees favor activities that facilitate information gathering about rivals. Upon leaving hills, movement decisions conformed with lowest risk engagement, indicating that higher elevation facilitates the detection of rivals presence or absence. Our results support the idea that elevation use facilitated rival information gathering and appropriate tactical maneuvers. Landscape use during territorial maneuvers in natural contexts suggests chimpanzees seek otherwise inaccessible information to adjust their behavior and points to the use of sophisticated cognitive abilities, commensurate with selection for cognition in species where individuals gain benefits from coordinated territorial defense. We advocate territorial contexts as a key paradigm for unpicking complex animal cognition.