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Berntsen D. Direct retrieval as a theory of involuntary autobiographical memories: evaluation and future directions. Memory 2024; 32:709-722. [PMID: 38109122 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2294690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
I evaluate the conception of direct retrieval as originally formulated in the Self-Memory System model (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce [2000]. The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261-288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.107.2.261). In the hierarchical memory organisation proposed in the Self-Memory System model, direct retrieval is described as a bottom-up associative process. While its theoretical role within this model is clear, systematic empirical examination of direct retrieval, viewed as a natural and observable phenomenon, has been hampered by inconsistent operationalisations. Here, I suggest that direct retrieval should be treated as a theoretical concept, aiming at explaining the phenomenon of involuntary (spontaneously arising) autobiographical memories. I evaluate predictions derived from the concept of direct retrieval against findings on involuntary autobiographical memories obtained over the past 25 years. Most of these predictions are consistent with the evidence, notably, the enhanced episodic specificity and constructive nature of involuntary autobiographical memories. However, the theory also has critical limitations. It did not predict the frequent occurrence of involuntary recollections in daily life, exceeding the prevalence of voluntary memories. Additionally, it overlooked the early emergence of spontaneously arising event memories in ontogenesis and their presence in other species, such as great apes. Future advancements of the Self-Memory System model should integrate evolutionary perspectives to address these limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorthe Berntsen
- Center on Autobiographical Memory Research, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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2
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Bevandić J, Chareyron LJ, Bachevalier J, Cacucci F, Genzel L, Newcombe NS, Vargha-Khadem F, Ólafsdóttir HF. Episodic memory development: Bridging animal and human research. Neuron 2024; 112:1060-1080. [PMID: 38359826 PMCID: PMC11129319 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Human episodic memory is not functionally evident until about 2 years of age and continues to develop into the school years. Behavioral studies have elucidated this developmental timeline and its constituent processes. In tandem, lesion and neurophysiological studies in non-human primates and rodents have identified key neural substrates and circuit mechanisms that may underlie episodic memory development. Despite this progress, collaborative efforts between psychologists and neuroscientists remain limited, hindering progress. Here, we seek to bridge human and non-human episodic memory development research by offering a comparative review of studies using humans, non-human primates, and rodents. We highlight critical theoretical and methodological issues that limit cross-fertilization and propose a common research framework, adaptable to different species, that may facilitate cross-species research endeavors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juraj Bevandić
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Loïc J Chareyron
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry, Developmental Neurosciences, University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK; Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jocelyne Bachevalier
- Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Emory National Primate Research Center, Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Francesca Cacucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Lisa Genzel
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Nora S Newcombe
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Faraneh Vargha-Khadem
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry, Developmental Neurosciences, University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
| | - H Freyja Ólafsdóttir
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
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3
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Taylor D, Gönül G, Alexander C, Züberbühler K, Clément F, Glock HJ. Reading minds or reading scripts? De-intellectualising theory of mind. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:2028-2048. [PMID: 37408142 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the origins of human social cognition is a central challenge in contemporary science. In recent decades, the idea of a 'Theory of Mind' (ToM) has emerged as the most popular way of explaining unique features of human social cognition. This default view has been progressively undermined by research on 'implicit' ToM, which suggests that relevant precursor abilities may already be present in preverbal human infants and great apes. However, this area of research suffers from conceptual difficulties and empirical limitations, including explanatory circularity, over-intellectualisation, and inconsistent empirical replication. Our article breaks new ground by adapting 'script theory' for application to both linguistic and non-linguistic agents. It thereby provides a new theoretical framework able to resolve the aforementioned issues, generate novel predictions, and provide a plausible account of how individuals make sense of the behaviour of others. Script theory is based on the premise that pre-verbal infants and great apes are capable of basic forms of agency-detection and non-mentalistic goal understanding, allowing individuals to form event-schemata that are then used to make sense of the behaviour of others. We show how script theory circumvents fundamental problems created by ToM-based frameworks, explains patterns of inconsistent replication, and offers important novel predictions regarding how humans and other animals understand and predict the behaviour of others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derry Taylor
- Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology, Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, Rue-Emile-Argand 11, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
| | - Gökhan Gönül
- Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Institute of Language and Communication Sciences, Cognitive Science Centre, University of Neuchâtel, Pierre-à-Mazel 7, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
| | - Cameron Alexander
- Department of Philosophy, University of Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 43, Zurich, CH-8044, Switzerland
| | - Klaus Züberbühler
- Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology, Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, Rue-Emile-Argand 11, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
| | - Fabrice Clément
- Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Institute of Language and Communication Sciences, Cognitive Science Centre, University of Neuchâtel, Pierre-à-Mazel 7, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
| | - Hans-Johann Glock
- Department of Philosophy, University of Zürich, Zürichbergstrasse 43, Zurich, CH-8044, Switzerland
- Institute for the Study of Language Evolution, University of Zürich, Affolternstrasse 56, Zürich, CH-8050, Switzerland
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Jensen TS, Sonne T, Kingo OS, Berntsen D, Krøjgaard P. Children below two years of age spontaneously recall an event with Magical Teddies. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2023.101311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
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5
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Dung L, Newen A. Profiles of animal consciousness: A species-sensitive, two-tier account to quality and distribution. Cognition 2023; 235:105409. [PMID: 36821996 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
The science of animal consciousness investigates (i) which animal species are conscious (the distribution question) and (ii) how conscious experience differs in detail between species (the quality question). We propose a framework which clearly distinguishes both questions and tackles both of them. This two-tier account distinguishes consciousness along ten dimensions and suggests cognitive capacities which serve as distinct operationalizations for each dimension. The two-tier account achieves three valuable aims: First, it separates strong and weak indicators of the presence of consciousness. Second, these indicators include not only different specific contents but also differences in the way particular contents are processed (by processes of learning, reasoning or abstraction). Third, evidence of consciousness from each dimension can be combined to derive the distinctive multi-dimensional consciousness profile of various species. Thus, the two-tier account shows how the kind of conscious experience of different species can be systematically compared.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonard Dung
- Ruhr-University Bochum, Institut of Philosophy II, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany.
| | - Albert Newen
- Ruhr-University Bochum, Institut of Philosophy II, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
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6
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Spontaneous verbal recall: A new look at the mechanisms involved in episodic memory retrieval in young children. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2022.101050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Read DW, Manrique HM, Walker MJ. On the Working Memory of Humans and Great Apes: Strikingly Similar or Remarkably Different? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 134:104496. [PMID: 34919985 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
In this article we review publications relevant to addressing widely reported claims in both the academic and popular press that chimpanzees working memory (WM) is comparable to, if not exceeding, that of humans. WM is a complex multidimensional construct with strong parallels in humans to prefrontal cortex and cognitive development. These parallels occur in chimpanzees, but to a lesser degree. We review empirical evidence and conclude that the size of WM in chimpanzees is 2 ± 1 versus Miller's famous 7 ± 2 in humans. Comparable differences occur in experiments on chimpanzees relating to strategic and attentional WM subsystems. Regardless of the domain, chimpanzee WM performance is comparable to that of humans around the age of 4 or 5. Next, we review evidence showing parallels among the evolution of WM capacity in hominins ancestral to Homo sapiens, the phylogenetic evolution of hominins leading to Homo sapiens, and evolution in the complexity of stone tool technology over this time period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dwight W Read
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Statistics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Héctor M Manrique
- Departamento de Psicología y Sociología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Michael J Walker
- Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
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Invasive Research on Non-Human Primates-Time to Turn the Page. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11102999. [PMID: 34680019 PMCID: PMC8532895 DOI: 10.3390/ani11102999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Despite increasing ethical concerns, primates are still often used in invasive research (i.e., laboratory research that causes body manipulations causing them pain or distress and not aimed at directly improving their well-being). Here, we will review previous studies showing that primates have complex behaviour and cognition, and that they suffer long-term consequences after being used in invasive research. We will discuss the ethical problems that invasive research on primates posit, the legal protection that they are, to date, granted in different countries, and summarize the past and current attempts to ban this kind of research on primates. We will conclude why, in our opinion, invasive research on primates should be banned, and non-invasive methods should be considered the only possible approach to the study of primates. Abstract Invasive research on primates (i.e., laboratory research that implies body manipulations causing pain or distress that is not aimed to directly improve the individuals’ well-being) has a long history. Although some invasive studies have allowed answering research questions that we could not have addressed with other methods (or at least not as quickly), the use of primates in invasive research also raises ethical concerns. In this review, we will discuss (i) recent advances in the study of primates that show evidence of complex behaviour and cognition, (ii) welfare issues that might arise when using primates in invasive research, (iii) the main ethical issues that have been raised about invasive research on primates, (iv) the legal protection that primates are granted in several countries, with a special focus on the principle of the 3Rs, and (v) previous and current attempts to ban the use of primates in invasive research. Based on this analysis, we suggest that the importance of a research question cannot justify the costs of invasive research on primates, and that non-invasive methods should be considered the only possible approach in the study of primates.
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Great apes selectively retrieve relevant memories to guide action. Sci Rep 2020; 10:12603. [PMID: 32724158 PMCID: PMC7387339 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-69607-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Memory allows us to draw on past experiences to inform behaviour in the present. However, memories rarely match the situation at hand exactly, and new situations regularly trigger multiple related memories where only some are relevant to act upon. The flexibility of human memory systems is largely attributed to the ability to disregard irrelevant, but salient, memories in favour of relevant ones. This is considered an expression of an executive function responsible for suppressing irrelevant memories, associated with the prefrontal cortex. It is unclear to what extent animals have access to this ability. Here, we demonstrate, in a series of tool-use tasks designed to evoke conflicting memories, that chimpanzees and an orangutan suffer from this conflict but overcome it in favour of a more relevant memory. Such mnemonic flexibility is among the most advanced expressions of executive function shown in animals to date and might explain several behaviours related to tool-use, innovation, planning and more.
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Corballis MC. Crossing the Rubicon: Behaviorism, Language, and Evolutionary Continuity. Front Psychol 2020; 11:653. [PMID: 32373020 PMCID: PMC7186390 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Euan Macphail's work and ideas captured a pivotal time in the late 20th century when behavioral laws were considered to apply equally across vertebrates, implying equal intelligence, but it was also a time when behaviorism was challenged by the view that language was unique to humans, and bestowed a superior mental status. Subsequent work suggests greater continuity between humans and their forebears, challenging the Chomskyan assumption that language evolved in a single step ("the great leap forward") in humans. Language is now understood to be based on an amalgam of cognitive functions, including mental time travel, theory of mind, and what may be more broadly defined as imagination. These functions probably evolved gradually in hominin evolution and are present in varying degrees in non-human species. The blending of language into cognition provides for both interspecies differences in mental function, and continuity between humans and other species. What does seem to be special to humans is the ability to communicate the contents of imagination, although even this is not absolute, and is perhaps less adaptive than we like to think.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C. Corballis
- Faculty of Science, School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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11
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Pet memoirs: The characteristics of event memories in cats and dogs, as reported by their owners. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2019.104885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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12
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Mental time travel, language, and evolution. Neuropsychologia 2019; 134:107202. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 08/29/2019] [Accepted: 09/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Vanier D, Sherwood C, Smaers J. Distinct Patterns of Hippocampal and Neocortical Evolution in Primates. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2019; 93:171-181. [DOI: 10.1159/000500625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 04/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Because of the central role of the hippocampus in representing spatial and temporal details of experience, comparative studies of its volume and structure are relevant to understanding the evolution of representational memory across species. The hippocampal formation, however, is organized into separate anatomical subregions with distinct functions, and little is known about the evolutionary diversification of these subregions. We investigate relative volumetric changes in hippocampal subregions across a large sample of primate species. We then compare the evolution of the hippocampal formation to the neocortex. Results across hippocampal subregions indicate that, compared to strepsirrhines, the anthropoid lineage displays a decrease in relative CA3, fascia dentata, subiculum, and rhinal cortex volume in tandem with an increase in relative neocortical volume. These findings indicate that hippocampal function in anthropoids might be substantially augmented by the executive decision-making functions of the neocortex. Humans are found to have a unique cerebral organization combining increased relative CA3, subiculum, and rhinal cortex with increased relative neocortical volumes, suggesting that these regions may play a role in behaviors that are uniquely specialized in humans.
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