Working Memory, its Executive Functions, and the Emergence of Modern Thinking
By Frederick L. Coolidge, T. Wynn. 2005
261 citations recorded by the source corpus.
This article examines the possible origins of modern thinking by evaluating the cognitive models of working memory, executive functions and their interrelationship. We propose that a genetic mutation affected neural networks in the prefrontal cortex approximately 60,000 to 130,000 years ago. Our review of cognitive and archaeological evidence yields two possibilities: either it was non-domain specific, affecting general working memory capacity and its executive functions, or the mutation was domain-specific, affecting phonological storage capacity. We discuss the sequelae of these possibilities for modernity, including language enhancement, greater reasoning, planning, and modelling abilities, and increases in fluid/general intelligence.
Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/720bfe4ab13a08a0ced794a4cc20614fee4f0be1
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In Developmental and Educational Psychology
Citations in the corpus
- Working‐Memory Capacity and the Evolution of Modern Cognitive Potential (2010, methodology): “Working memory serves to focus attention by maintaining memory representations (plans of action, short- or long-term goals, or task-relevant stimuli) in a conscious state despite interference or response competition (Kane and Engle 2000, 2002, as cited in Coolidge and Wynn 2005).”
- Numerosity, Abstraction, and the Emergence of Symbolic Thinking (2012, background): “…implicated in metaphors; for example, Chiappe and Chiappe found that metaphor aptness requires greater working-memory capacity (see Baddeley 2007 for additional information about working memory and see Coolidge and Wynn 2005 and Wynn and Coolidge 2005 for additional details about its evolution).”
- Morphological Differences in the Parietal Lobes within the Human Genus (2010, methodology): “When we are dealing with the upper parietal volumes, we are directly involved in the visuospatial sketch pad described as a relevant component of Baddeley’s workingmemory model (see Coolidge and Wynn 2005).”