Conscious Thought Is for Facilitating Social and Cultural Interactions: How Mental Simulations Serve the Animal-Culture Interface

Autor/inn/en	Baumeister, Roy F.; Masicampo, E. J.
Titel	Conscious Thought Is for Facilitating Social and Cultural Interactions: How Mental Simulations Serve the Animal-Culture Interface
Quelle	In: Psychological Review, 117 (2010) 3, S.945-971 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0033-295X
DOI	10.1037/a0019393
Schlagwörter	Stellungnahme; Sentences; Interpersonal Communication; Interpersonal Relationship; Interaction; Brain; Cultural Context; Animals; Decision Making; Simulation; Sequential Learning; Cognitive Processes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Interpersonale Kommunikation; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Interaktion; Gehirn; Animal; Tier; Tiere; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Simulation program; Simulationsprogramm; Didaktische Sequenzierung; Lernsequenz; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess
Abstract	Five empirically based critiques have undermined the standard assumption that conscious thought is primarily for input (obtaining information from the natural environment) or output (the direct control of action). Instead, we propose that conscious thought is for internal processing, to facilitate downstream interaction with the social and cultural environment. Human consciousness enables the construction of meaningful, sequential thought, as in sentences and narratives, logical reasoning, counting and quantification, causal understanding, narratives, and the simulation of events (including nonpresent ones). Conscious thought sequences resemble short films that the brain makes for itself, thereby enabling different parts of brain and mind to share information. The production of conscious thoughts is closely linked to the production of speech because the human mind evolved to facilitate social communication and information sharing, as culture became humankind's biological strategy. The influence of conscious thought on behavior can be vitally helpful but is mostly indirect. Conscious simulation processes are useful for understanding the perspectives of social interaction partners, for exploring options in complex decisions, for replaying past events (both literally and counterfactually) so as to learn, and for facilitating participation in culture in other ways. (Contains 1 figure and 2 footnotes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10