Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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

Open Peer Commentary

Cultural intelligence is key to explaining human tool use

Claudio Tenniea1 and Harriet Overa1

a1 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04013 Germany. tennie@eva.mpg.de www.claudiotennie.de harriet_over@eva.mpg.de http://www.eva.mpg.de/psycho/staff/over

Abstract

Contrary to Vaesen, we argue that a small number of key traits are sufficient to explain modern human tool use. Here we outline and defend the cultural intelligence (CI) hypothesis. In doing so, we critically re-examine the role of social transmission in explaining human tool use.

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    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