Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - August 2012 - Volume 35, Issue 04  

Open Peer Commentary

What exists in the environment that motivates the emergence, transmission, and sophistication of tool use?

Tetsushi Nonakaa1

a1 Research Institute of Health and Welfare, Kibi International University, Takahashi, Okayama, 716-8508, Japan; and Advanced Research Center for Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-1192, Japan. tetsushi.nonaka@gmail.com http://www.kiui.ac.jp/~nonaka_t/

Abstract

In his attempt to find cognitive traits that set humans apart from nonhuman primates with respect to tool use, Vaesen overlooks the primacy of the environment toward the use of which behavior evolves. The occurrence of a particular behavior is a result of how that behavior has evolved in a complex and changing environment selected by a unique population.

Related Articles

    The cognitive bases of human tool use Krist Vaesen Philosophy & Ethics, School of Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands. k.vaesen@tue.nl http://home.ieis.tue.nl/kvaesen