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Introduction to special issue: 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gopnik, A; Frankenhuis, WE; Tomasello, M
Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
July 2020

This special issue focuses on the relationship between life history and learning, especially during human evolution. 'Life history' refers to the developmental programme of an organism, including its period of immaturity, reproductive rate and timing, caregiving investment and longevity. Across many species an extended childhood and high caregiving investment appear to be correlated with particular kinds of plasticity and learning. Human life history is particularly distinctive; humans evolved an exceptionally long childhood and old age, and an unusually high level of caregiving investment, at the same time that they evolved distinctive capacities for cognition and culture. The contributors explore the relations between life history, plasticity and learning across a wide range of methods and populations, including theoretical and empirical work in biology, anthropology and developmental psychology. This article is part of the theme issue 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.

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Published In

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2970

ISSN

0962-8436

Publication Date

July 2020

Volume

375

Issue

1803

Start / End Page

20190489

Related Subject Headings

  • Paternal Behavior
  • Maternal Behavior
  • Life History Traits
  • Learning
  • Humans
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Culture
  • Cognition
  • Animals
  • Aging
 

Citation

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Gopnik, A., Frankenhuis, W. E., & Tomasello, M. (2020). Introduction to special issue: 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 375(1803), 20190489. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0489
Gopnik, Alison, Willem E. Frankenhuis, and Michael Tomasello. “Introduction to special issue: 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 375, no. 1803 (July 2020): 20190489. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0489.
Gopnik A, Frankenhuis WE, Tomasello M. Introduction to special issue: 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological sciences. 2020 Jul;375(1803):20190489.
Gopnik, Alison, et al. “Introduction to special issue: 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, vol. 375, no. 1803, July 2020, p. 20190489. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0489.
Gopnik A, Frankenhuis WE, Tomasello M. Introduction to special issue: 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological sciences. 2020 Jul;375(1803):20190489.
Journal cover image

Published In

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2970

ISSN

0962-8436

Publication Date

July 2020

Volume

375

Issue

1803

Start / End Page

20190489

Related Subject Headings

  • Paternal Behavior
  • Maternal Behavior
  • Life History Traits
  • Learning
  • Humans
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Culture
  • Cognition
  • Animals
  • Aging