Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T22:16:49.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Morgan's canon is not evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2018

Steven Samuel  and
Nicola Clayton
Steven Samuel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. ss2391@cam.ac.uknsc22@cam.ac.uk
Nicola Clayton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. ss2391@cam.ac.uknsc22@cam.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mahr & Csibra's (M&C's) account of the communicative function of episodic memory relies more heavily on the case against episodic memory in nonhumans than their description suggests. Although the communicative function of episodic memory may be accurate as it pertains to human behaviour, we question whether Morgan's canon is a suitable foundation on which to build theories of supposedly human-specific traits.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e31
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Basile, B. M., Schroeder, G. R., Brown, E. K., Templer, V. L. & Hampton, R. R. (2015) Evaluation of seven hypotheses for metamemory performance in rhesus monkeys. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 144(1):85–102.Google Scholar
Cheke, L. G. & Clayton, N. S. (2010) Mental time travel in animals. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 1(6):915–30.Google Scholar
Cheney, D. L. & Seyfarth, R. M. (1988) Assessment of meaning and the detection of unreliable signals by vervet monkeys. Animal Behaviour 36(2):477–86.Google Scholar
Clayton, N. S. & Dickinson, A. (1998) Episodic-like memory during cache recovery by scrub jays. Nature 395(6699):272–74. Available at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v395/n6699/abs/395272a0.html.Google Scholar
Clayton, N. S. & Dickinson, A. (1999a) Memory for the content of caches by scrub jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 25(1):82–91.Google Scholar
Clayton, N. S. & Dickinson, A. (1999b) Scrub jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) remember the relative time of caching as well as the location and content of their caches. Journal of Comparative Psychology 113(4):403–16.Google Scholar
Clayton, N. S. & Russell, (2009) Looking for episodic memory in animals and young children: Prospects for a new minimalism. Neuropsychologia 47(11):2330–40. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393208004132.Google Scholar
Clayton, N. S., Yu, K. S. & Dickinson, A. (2001) Scrub jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) form integrated memories of the multiple features of caching episodes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 27(1):17–29.Google Scholar
Clayton, N. S., Yu, K. S. & Dickinson, A. (2003) Interacting cache memories: Evidence for flexible memory use by Western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 29(1):14–22.Google Scholar
Dally, J. M., Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. (2006) Food-caching western scrub-jays keep track of who was watching when. Science 312(5780):1662–65.Google Scholar
de Kort, S. R., Dickinson, A. & Clayton, N. S. (2005) Retrospective cognition by food-caching Western scrub-jays. Learning and Motivation 36(2):159–76.Google Scholar
Hampton, R. R. (2001) Rhesus monkeys know when they remember. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 98(9):5359–62.Google Scholar
Hampton, R. R. (2009) Multiple demonstrations of metacognition in nonhumans: Converging evidence or multiple mechanisms? Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews 4:17–28.Google Scholar
Hampton, R. R. & Hampstead, B. M. (2006) Spontaneous behavior of a rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) during memory tests suggests memory awareness. Behavioural Processes 72(2):184–89.Google Scholar
Kornell, N., Son, L. K. & Terrace, H. S. (2007) Transfer of metacognitive skills and hint seeking in monkeys. Psychological Science 18(1):64–71.Google Scholar
Morgan, G., Kornell, N., Kornblum, T. & Terrace, H. S. (2014) Retrospective and prospective metacognitive judgments in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Animal Cognition 17(2):249–57.Google Scholar
Templer, V. L. & Hampton, R. R. (2012) Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) show robust evidence for memory awareness across multiple generalization tests. Animal Cognition 15(3):409–19.Google Scholar