‘Humans have evolved to be fundamentally distinct from other animals'. Criti-
cally evaluate this claim, drawing on evidence from Chapters 2 and 3 in Book
2, Challenging Psychological Issues.
Humans have long thought that they were distinctive, but many scientists and
psychologists have found so many human traits in animals suggesting that
humans are just more evolved than other animals. When considering whether
humans are different to other animals, it is first necessary to look at the simi-
larities. This assignment will look at how humans communicate with others,
the evolutionary past humans share with other animals and the benefits of
how humans have adapted and evolved will also be discussed.
Evidence has proven that humans share a common ancestor with chim-
panzees. Whiten (1997) compared the cognitive abilities of humans and non-
human primates to evaluate whether the two groups had different thought
process abilities. He used Maxi tests to examine whether non-human pri-
mates possessed theory of the mind. Theory of the mind is a concept which
involves improved survival and reproductive success due to an ability to inter-
act effectively in social situations. Studies carried out on modern human chil-
dren using false-belief tests such as the Maxi test indicated that theory of the
mind is present in most 6 year olds (Wimmer and Perner, 1983). Whiten
(1997) found that apes can also act deceptively which indicates that they have
some theory of the mind ability. This suggests that the social-cognitive ability
to empathically understand others and predict events and behaviour is not an
exclusively human trait. Therefore, evolutionary psychologists have found that
non-human primates cannot be differentiated from humans based on this cog-
nitive-communicative capacity.
, Communication is vital to the survival and development of both the human
and animal worlds and has enabled both groups to successfully operate in
their environments. As humans, language is seen as the most important as-
pect that sets humans apart from other animals. Similarly animals have also
been found to communicate with each other; although this may sound like just
random noises to humans, for animals it conveys a specific meaning. Honey-
bees are social creatures who also communicate with their group members.
They use a round dance if they have found food within 50 meters of the hive
and a waggle dance if the location is more remote. They convey information
about the distance and direction of the food (Kirschner et al, 1994). Likewise,
vervet monkeys perform alarm-calls when they detect a predator. They can
communicate whether the predator is a leopard, eagle or snake, and the
group escapes accordingly (Seyfarth et al, 1980). This suggests that there is
two-way communication, as the respondents can be seen to take action,
think, problem-solve and plan when they react to the dance and alarm-call.
These abilities could be perceived as human traits but psychologists have
performed empirical tests to conclude that they co-exist in other animals.
However, humans communicate in a more sophisticated manner to other ani-
mals as, by contrast, they do not rely on physical movements to communicate
ideas and information. Humans have the unique ability to interact using lan-
guage.
Psychologists speculate as to whether human's language use is qualitatively
or quantitatively different from other animal communication (Cooper and
Kaye, 2002). Language use and theory of the mind are interconnected, as the
cally evaluate this claim, drawing on evidence from Chapters 2 and 3 in Book
2, Challenging Psychological Issues.
Humans have long thought that they were distinctive, but many scientists and
psychologists have found so many human traits in animals suggesting that
humans are just more evolved than other animals. When considering whether
humans are different to other animals, it is first necessary to look at the simi-
larities. This assignment will look at how humans communicate with others,
the evolutionary past humans share with other animals and the benefits of
how humans have adapted and evolved will also be discussed.
Evidence has proven that humans share a common ancestor with chim-
panzees. Whiten (1997) compared the cognitive abilities of humans and non-
human primates to evaluate whether the two groups had different thought
process abilities. He used Maxi tests to examine whether non-human pri-
mates possessed theory of the mind. Theory of the mind is a concept which
involves improved survival and reproductive success due to an ability to inter-
act effectively in social situations. Studies carried out on modern human chil-
dren using false-belief tests such as the Maxi test indicated that theory of the
mind is present in most 6 year olds (Wimmer and Perner, 1983). Whiten
(1997) found that apes can also act deceptively which indicates that they have
some theory of the mind ability. This suggests that the social-cognitive ability
to empathically understand others and predict events and behaviour is not an
exclusively human trait. Therefore, evolutionary psychologists have found that
non-human primates cannot be differentiated from humans based on this cog-
nitive-communicative capacity.
, Communication is vital to the survival and development of both the human
and animal worlds and has enabled both groups to successfully operate in
their environments. As humans, language is seen as the most important as-
pect that sets humans apart from other animals. Similarly animals have also
been found to communicate with each other; although this may sound like just
random noises to humans, for animals it conveys a specific meaning. Honey-
bees are social creatures who also communicate with their group members.
They use a round dance if they have found food within 50 meters of the hive
and a waggle dance if the location is more remote. They convey information
about the distance and direction of the food (Kirschner et al, 1994). Likewise,
vervet monkeys perform alarm-calls when they detect a predator. They can
communicate whether the predator is a leopard, eagle or snake, and the
group escapes accordingly (Seyfarth et al, 1980). This suggests that there is
two-way communication, as the respondents can be seen to take action,
think, problem-solve and plan when they react to the dance and alarm-call.
These abilities could be perceived as human traits but psychologists have
performed empirical tests to conclude that they co-exist in other animals.
However, humans communicate in a more sophisticated manner to other ani-
mals as, by contrast, they do not rely on physical movements to communicate
ideas and information. Humans have the unique ability to interact using lan-
guage.
Psychologists speculate as to whether human's language use is qualitatively
or quantitatively different from other animal communication (Cooper and
Kaye, 2002). Language use and theory of the mind are interconnected, as the
