The Missing Link in Cognition: Origins of self-reflective consciousness

"After a century in the wilderness of questions considered unanswerable by science, the study of animal consciousness has undergone a revival in the last few decades. Research on consiousness in nonhumans has spawned several experimental paradigms, all of which are represented in this edited volume. The Missing Link in Cognition (the missing link being, as its subtitle suggests, the origin of self-reflective consiousness) stands as an excellent resource for advanced students and researchers interested in the state of the art in this rapidly growing field... greatly expands our understanding of the things nonhumans can and cannot do." --TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences "remarkable collection of essays by some of the most renowned scientists in the fields of cognitive psychology, development, animal learning, and primatology. No doubt because of the conference origins of the text, each chapter is written with full awareness of and integration with the topics in the other chapters. This is a very welcome if somewhat rare feature in edited volumes . . . This text would be an excellent addition to any psychologist's library. Only those with no interest in cognition, development, the conscious mind, animal behavior, evolutionary theory, or philosophy of science would fail to thoroughly enjoy this text. It is likely only accessible to graduate students and professionals, but it should be fascinating to all of them." --Salavador Macias, in Psyccritiques "...essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of self-awareness."--Alan M. Leslie, Rutgers University "We usually think that we are the only conscious beings, but after reading this collection of empirical and philosophical papers, this position becomes hard to maintain. There is plenty of common ground."--Frans B. M. de Waal, Living Links Center "...Particularly important and surprising are its reports of recent ingenious research showing something like metacognitive competencies in primates."--John H. Flavell, Stanford University "Just when you thought it was safe to proclaim our intellectual uniqueness and domination of the animal kingdom, along comes The Missing Link in Cognition, the latest challenge to our status as the paragon of animals."--Marc Hauser, Harvard University "After a century in the wilderness of questions considered unanswerable by science, the study of animal consciousness has undergone a revival in the last few decades. Research on consiousness in nonhumans has spawned several experimental paradigms, all of which are represented in this edited volume. The Missing Link in Cognition (the missing link being, as its subtitle suggests, the origin of self-reflective consiousness) stands as an excellent resource for advanced students and researchers interested in the state of the art in this rapidly growing field... greatly expands our understanding of the things nonhumans can and cannot do." --TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences "remarkable collection of essays by some of the most renowned scientists in the fields of cognitive psychology, development, animal learning, and primatology. No doubt because of the conference origins of the text, each chapter is written with full awareness of and integration with the topics in the other chapters. This is a very welcome if somewhat rare feature in edited volumes . . . This text would be an excellent addition to any psychologist's library. Only those with no interest in cognition, development, the conscious mind, animal behavior, evolutionary theory, or philosophy of science would fail to thoroughly enjoy this text. It is likely only accessible to graduate students and professionals, but it should be fascinating to all of them." --Salavador Macias, in Psyccritiques "...essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of self-awareness."--Alan M. Leslie, Rutgers University "We usually think that we are the only conscious beings, but after reading this collection of empirical and philosophical papers, this position becomes hard to maintain. There is plenty of common ground."--Frans B. M. de Waal, Living Links Center "...Particularly important and surprising are its reports of recent ingenious research showing something like metacognitive competencies in primates."--John H. Flavell, Stanford University "Just when you thought it was safe to proclaim our intellectual uniqueness and domination of the animal kingdom, along comes The Missing Link in Cognition, the latest challenge to our status as the paragon of animals."--Marc Hauser, Harvard University "...admirably explores the cognitive dimensions of self-reflective consciousness...the individuals chapters are all of high quality...a useful volume for readers interested in a broad-ranging examination of this topic."--The Quarterly Review of Biology