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Empathy is the ability to perceive and understand others’ emotional states generating a similar mental state in the self. Previous behavioural studies have shown that self-reflection can enhance the empathic process. The present event-related potentials study aims to investigate whether self-reflection, elicited by an introspective self-narrative task, modulates the neuronal response to eye expressions and improves the accuracy of empathic process. The twenty-nine participants included in the final sample were divided into two groups: an introspection group (IG) (n=15), who received an introspective writing task, and a control group (CG) (n=14), who completed a not-introspective writing task. For both groups, the electroencephalographic and behavioural responses to images depicting eye expressions taken from the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Theory of Mind test were recorded pre- (T0) and post- (T1) seven days of writing. The main result showed that only the IG presented a different P300 amplitude in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 on the left centre-frontal montage. No significant results on accuracy at T1 compared to T0 were found. These findings seem to suggest that the introspective writing task modulates attention and implicit evaluation of the socio-emotional stimuli. Results are discussed with reference to the hypothesis that such neuronal modulation is linked to an increase in the embodied simulation process underlying affective empathy.

In this talk, we propose an account of the evolution of language that builds on the hypothesis of human self-domestication (HSD), arguing that the evolution of one of the hallmarks of communication, i.e., conversational abilities, is strongly linked to the reduction of reactive aggression, one of the characteristic features and one of the triggering factors of HSD. Our argument rests on two steps: to argue in favor of a continuity of animal proto-conversation (PC) with modern human conversation; to show that the analysis of how PC of human infants develop into sophisticated conversational skills, in part from changes in the management of aggression/emotions, can shed light on how full-fledged conversational abilities emerged from PC in modern humans under HSD forces. Overall, we argue for a gradual transition from PC to full-fledged conversation under the gradual increase of HSD features in our species.

Al centro di questo capitolo è l’analisi di due deficit pragmatici dell’età evolutiva caratterizzati da una difficoltà primaria nell’uso sociale del linguaggio e della comunicazione: il disturbo dello spettro autistico (Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD [APA, 2013]) e il disturbo socio-pragmatico comunicativo (DSPC; Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder [APA, 2013]). La scelta di restringere il campo d’indagine a questi gruppi clinici è legata al fatto che ASD e DSPC sono i due casi maggiormente esemplificativi di un deficit nell’elaborazione degli aspetti pragmatici del linguaggio con interessanti similarità e sovrapposizioni. Proprio le similarità tra i due disturbi, come vedremo a chiusura del capitolo, pongono interessanti problemi nosografici e diagnostici.

This paper relies on the idea that human language evolved to modify/change the beliefs and attitudes of other people, in order to make them act in a certain way. Such an idea is in line with a more general model of animal communication, which sees it as a way to influence others’ behaviors. Although forms of persuasion are present in non-human communication, it is suggested that, in the transition from animal communication to language, humans developed a specific and more powerful way to influence others: the telling of stories. Looking at the cognitive architectures and the expressive systems which allowed our ancestors to cope with the selective pressures of a narrative-based communication, it is proposed that pantomime was the early means of expression of narrative persuasion. From this point of view, pantomime represented a form of protolanguage, providing a platform for the progressive development of modern-day narrative.

Recent research has proposed that certain aspects of psychosis, as experienced in, e.g., schizophrenia (SCZ), but also aspects of other cognitive conditions, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and synesthesia, can be related to a shattered sense of the notion of self. In this paper, our goal is to show that altered processing of self can be attributed to an abnormal functioning of cortico-striatal brain networks supporting, among other, one key human distinctive cognitive ability, namely cross-modality, which plays multiple roles in human cognition and language. Specifically, our hypothesis is that this cognitive mechanism sheds light both on some basic aspects of the minimal self and on some aspects related to higher forms of self, such as the narrative self. We further link the atypical functioning in these conditions to some recent evolutionary changes in our species, specifically, an atypical presentation of human self-domestication (HSD) features. In doing so, we also lean on previous work concerning the link between cognitive disorders and language evolution under the effects of HSD. We further show that this approach can unify both linguistic and non-linguistic symptoms of these conditions through deficits in the notion of self. Our considerations provide further support for the hypothesis that SCZ and ASD are diametrically opposed cognitive conditions, as well for the hypothesis that their etiology is associated with recent human evolution, leading to a deeper understanding of the causes and symptoms of these disorders, and providing new cues, which can be used for an earlier and more accurate diagnostics.

This event-related potentials (ERPs) study investigated on-line processes of integration of information relating to characters in narrative comprehension. The final sample included twenty-nine participants who read short third-person stories in which the plausibility of the characters’ actions was manipulated. Stories were administered in three conditions: a character-based congruent condition including a target word that was consistent with the character’s job; a character-based incongruent condition with a target word inconsistent with the character’s job; a character-based neutral condition, narrating the action of a character presented by his/her proper name without information about his/her job. Results comparing the ERPs elicited by the experimental conditions revealed a greater negative amplitude of the N400 in the right temporal regions in response to the character-based incongruent compared to the character-based congruent narratives. This finding shows that implicit background character-based information affects the N400, with readers rapidly using this information to comprehend narratives.

Individuals with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties in the recollection of past experiences (Episodic Memory). Accumulating evidence suggests that they might have also difficulties in the ability to imagine potential future scenarios (Episodic Future Thinking, EFT) and in narrative generation skills. This investigation aimed to determine 1) whether impairments of EFT can be identified in a large cohort of children with high functioning ASD using a task with minimal narrative demands; and 2) if such impairments are related to the ability to generate a narrative's scenario. 77 children with high-functioning ASD and 77 children with typical development were recruited for the study. The two groups were balanced for age, level of formal education, and IQ. EFT was assessed by administering a task with minimal narrative demands, whereas narrative generation skills were assessed with three tasks requiring children to generate past, middle or future episodes in a narrative discourse. With respect to control participants, a subgroup of children with ASD had impaired EFT skills and also showed significant impairments in the ability to generate adequate narratives. On the contrary, participants with spared EFT had normal performance on the narrative generation task. Interestingly, EFT skills predicted narrative generation abilities in both groups. The results of this study support the hypothesis that EFT may be impaired in some but not all children with ASD and of a relation between difficulties with EFT and impairments in the process of narrative generation. The assessment of EFT should employ tasks that do not require narrative production, as children with impaired EFT may also have reduced narrative skills.

The aim of this paper is twofold: to propose that conversation is the distinctive feature ofHomo sapiens' communication; and to show that the emergence of modern language is tied to the transition from pantomime to verbal and grammatically complex forms of narrative. It is suggested that (animal and human) communication is a form of persuasion and that storytelling was the best tool developed by humans to convince others. In the early stage of communication, archaic hominins used forms of pantomimic storytelling to persuade others. Although pantomime is a powerful tool for persuasivecommunication, it is proposed that it is not an effective tool for persuasiveconversation: conversation is characterized by a form of reciprocal persuasion among peers; instead, pantomime has a mainly asymmetrical character. The selective pressure towards persuasive reciprocity of the conversational level is the evolutionary reason that allowed the transition from pantomime to grammatically complex codes inH. sapiens, which favoured the evolution of speech.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Reconstructing prehistoric languages’.

Diversi studi hanno dimostrato che l’analisi della dimensione narrativa può rappresentare un valido strumento per far luce su alcuni aspetti psicologici critici; in questo senso, può essere utile per capire meglio il disturbo da dipendenza. Il presente articolo riporta tra l’altro alcuni tra i dati principali di una ricerca da noi condotta e pubblicata nella rivista Journal of Gambling Issues nel 2021. In tale ricerca abbiamo indagato gli aspetti psicologico-narrativi coinvolti nelle dipendenze, specificamente nel DUS e nel DGA, attraverso un’analisi quali-quantitativa multidimensionale di un’intervista semi-strutturata, che ha invitato due gruppi di soggetti dipendenti in trattamento (DGA e DUS) a raccontare le varie fasi della dipendenza. Le analisi narrative multidimensionali da noi condotte sembrano aver portato alla luce alcuni punti critici su cui focalizzare l’attenzione per la costruzione di un adeguato trattamento dei soggetti con dipendenza. Nello specifico, i risultati suggerirebbero la necessità di lavorare su aspetti dissociati del Sé al fine di: 1) favorire il processo di integrazione di motivazioni e azioni, aumentando la consapevolezza e il senso di autoefficacia, soprattutto con i giocatori d’azzardo; 2) migliorare la coerenza globale nella narrazione del desiderio al fine di diminuire la disregolazione emotiva tipica di questa fase; 3) migliorare la capacità di proiezione del Sé nel tempo. Quest’ultimo punto potrebbe essere particolarmente rilevante in una prospettiva di intervento riabilitativo, soprattutto per quanto riguarda gli strumenti di trattamento legati alla dimensione narrativa. Il rapporto circolare tra regolazione dell’impulsività, autocontrollo, integrità dell’Io, funzioni cognitive e dimensione narrativa trova nel fattore temporale uno dei principali perni comuni.

This study addresses the postulate of non-conventionality of pantomime, inherent in pantomimic scenarios of language origin. Since lack of semiotic conventions does not preclude micro-conventions resulting from cultural differences, pantomimes should be easier to interpret when the actor and recipient share the same culture than between two different cultures. In the study, Italian and Polish amateur “actors” re-enacted transitive events from a matrix of cartoon-like drawings. Randomly selected clips were matched by Polish and Italian participants to the corresponding drawings. We found no difference in the number of correct guesses when the actors and matchers were from the same versus from different cultures. We discuss this result in the context of the core assumptions of pantomimic scenarios of language origin. (Less)

Growing evidence suggests that theory of mind (ToM) and episodic future thinking (EFT) are closely related at both brain and functional level. This study explored the relationship between ToM and EFT in 96 Italian-speaking children with typical development aged between 8 and 10.11 using a behavioral design. ToM was assessed through an emotional facial expression recognition task. EFT was assessed with a task where participants were required to project themselves forward in time by anticipating future states of the self; this resulted in two scores: a nonverbal measure and a verbal explanation measure. Results showed that the participants’ performance on the task assessing ToM correlated with and predicted the nonverbal measure of the EFT task. These findings are discussed in the light of theories suggesting that each of these abilities is governed by a common system devoted to self-projection.

Several studies have shown that the analysis of the narrative dimension may represent a useful instrument to shed light on certain critical psychological aspects; to this extent, it might also be fruitful to understand better the addiction disorder. The present study aimed to investigate the critical psychological-narrative aspects involved in Gambling Disorder (GD). A semi-structured interview, one which invited participants to narrate the various phases of addiction (addiction definition, onset, chronicization, relapse, desire, loss of control, control strategies, treatment, future behaviours with respect to the object of addiction), was administered to two groups of subjects in treatment: thirty with GD and eighteen with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). A quali-quantitative multidimensional analysis of this interview was performed. The dependent variables were psychological aspects (agency, passivity, locus of control, motivation) and narrative variables (global narrative coherence and self-projection into the future). The main findings showed that the GD presented a higher sense of agency, passivity, external locus of control and external motivation compared to SUD. Both groups showed a lower global narrative coherence score during the narration of desire (craving) compared to other phases. Moreover, both groups showed an absent self-projection into the future. The findings could be linked to possible impairment of the integration of the self, emotional dysregulation and low self-control typical in addiction. In conclusion, the present study highlighted the importance of the narrative dimension to detect certain critical points in the addiction condition on which to potentially address the treatment.RésuméPlusieurs études ont montré que l’analyse de la dimension narrative peut apporter un éclairage utile sur certains aspects psychologiques cruciaux; en ce sens, elle peut aussi contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des troubles de dépendance. Notre étude visait à examiner les aspects à la fois psychologiques et narratifs intervenant dans les troubles de dépendance. Nous avons réalisé des entrevues semi-structurées qui invitaient les participants à raconter les différentes phases de la dépendance (définition de la dépendance, début, chronicisation, rechute, désir, perte de maîtrise, stratégie de régulation, traitement, comportements futurs en ce qui a trait à l’objet de la dépendance). Nous avons mené ces entrevues auprès de deux groupes de personnes en traitement : 30 ayant une dépendance au jeu (DJ) et 18 ayant un trouble lié à l’usage d’une substance (TUS), puis nous en avons effectué une analyse multidimensionnelle quali-quantitative. Les variables dépendantes étaient des aspects psychologiques (agentivité, passivité, lieu de contrôle, motivation) et des variables narratives (cohérence narrative globale et projection de soi dans l’avenir). Les principaux résultats ont indiqué que, comparativement au groupe TUS, le groupe DJ présentait une meilleure perception sur les plans de l’agentivité, de la passivité, du lieu de contrôle externe et de la motivation extrinsèque. Par rapport aux autres phases, les deux groupes ont montré une cohérence narrative globale inférieure durant la narration relative au désir (envie irrésistible). En outre, les deux groupes ont montré une absence de projection de soi dans l’avenir. On peut lier ces résultats à l’intégration déficiente du moi, à la dysrégulation émotionnelle et au faible autocontrôle qui caractérisent la dépendance. En conclusion, notre étude souligne l’importance de la dimension narrative pour déceler certains aspects cruciaux de l’état de dépendance susceptibles d’orienter le traitement.

The present study analyzed the comprehension of visual narrative in a group of twelve children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Their performances were compared to a control group of fifteen children with typical development (TD) matched for age, level of formal education, and IQ. Visual narrative comprehension was assessed by administering a task that required children to understand narrative's global coherence by arranging in the correct order the constituent parts of stories presented in pictures. Specifically, the task evaluated children's ability to grasp how single events connected (causally and temporally) each other and how these connections led to the ending of the story. Results showed that children with ASD obtained significantly lower scores than children with TD. These results open to alternative interpretations of narrative impairments often reported in individuals with ASD, which might not be restricted to the linguistic code but stem from a deeper deficit in narrative processing that is independent from the expressive modality.

Aim of the present study was to investigate affective and cognitive processes underlying self-narratives of patients with gambling disorder through a verbal language analysis. A semistructured interview was administered to 30 patients with gambling disorder (GD) (24 males and 6 females; mean age: 46.63±9.08) concerning the various thematic areas of their condition: definition of addiction, onset and maintenance of the addiction, relapses, desire, loss of control, control strategies, and treatment. Word usage in the self-narratives was categorized using James Pennebaker’s Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text-analysis software. Specifically, variables analyzed were emotion-related words, the use of pronoun-related words, and tense-related words. The findings showed a higher percentage of negative emotion-related words in the thematic areas of the definition of addiction, maintenance, and loss of control compared with other areas, which may suggest an emotional dysregulation; a higher percentage of first person singular-related words than other person-related words which decreases in the thematic areas of the desire, relapse, and loss of control, which may suggest dissociative phenomena; lastly, a high percentage of present tense-related words, which suggested a static and rigid representation of one’s dependency condition in GD patients and a difficulty to self-project into the future. Overall, the linguistic analysis revealed critical issues in affective and cognitive processes in specific phases of addiction in GD patients which could help guide treatment.

Impairments in language narrative abilities have been widely observed in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Indeed, both children and adults with ASD show difficulties in generating coherent personal and fictional narratives as well as understanding verbal stories. Cognitive studies have considered these difficulties as not dependent on strictly linguistic impairments but reflecting underlying cognitive deficits that are commonly used to explain the core symptoms of ASD: theory of mind impairment, weak central coherence, executive dysfunction, and a compromised mental time travel. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that the narrative deficits of ASD could extend to expressive media other than verbal language, e.g., the visual medium, whose processing might rely on those deeper cognitive functions. In support of this hypothesis, in the current paper we review the literature on the cognitive underpinnings of verbal and visual narrative in ASD and discuss the main findings of a study recently published on the comprehension of visual narrative in children with ASD, which shows that their difficulties are not restricted to the linguistic code but involve also the visual modality.

Several disciplines contribute to the discussion on the origin of language: computer simulation, cognitive psychology, genetics, paleoanthropology, and comparative studies, as some examples. Some disciplines employ sophisticated analysis techniques resulting in empirical evidence inconceivable until a few years ago. However, the huge volume of data available and the heterogeneity of disciplines have had problematic effects on research: each discipline contributing to the study of language is different from another, so the first difficulty is identification of a point of convergence among extremely heterogeneous empirical results. This paper tries to delineate a new theorethical framework for the study of language orings able to synthesize currentempirical results. This new paradigm is based on the embodied tehories of language and mind.

In this paper we propose a narrative account for the origin of language. Such a proposal is based on two assumptions. The first is conceptual and concerns the idea that the distinctive feature of human language (what sets it apart from other forms of animal communication) has to be traced to its inherently narrative character. The second assumption is methodological and connected to the idea that the study of language origin is closely related to the analysis of the cognitive systems at the base of narrative. Research on narrative abilities of subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder has shown that storytelling requires the capability to link events causally connected to one another, and especially events which are remote from one another on the temporal axis of a story. Based on this research, we hypothesize that an important cognitive device involved in narrative is Mental Time Travel (MTT), that is, the system that allows humans to project themselves into the past and future. We show that such a system is present (to a greater or lesser extent) even in non-human animals. By virtue of this, we argue that MTT is independent of language and that it may be considered a cognitive precursor for the origin of language. Specifically, we propose that MTT allowed our ancestors to develop a form of pantomimic communication that might be considered as the foundation of the narrative origin of language.

We present an ongoing international project, From Pantomime to Language (PANTOLANG), aiming to develop a comprehensive, empirically grounded theory of the evolution of human language and the human mind, relying on the new paradigm of cognitive semiotics, which combines methods and concepts from the humanities and the sciences (Zlatev, 2015; Zlatev, et al. 2016).

In this paper, we show how the embodied revolution within cognitive sciences has relevant consequences for the topic of language origins. The empirical findings of the embodied approaches, indeed, allow to elaborate a motor theory of language origins according to which human language originated from the gestural communication of our ancestors. Theories that propose that human language emerged from gesture suggest that an important stage in the evolution of human communication was that of pantomime, i.e. a spontaneous bodily mode of expression in which meaning is conveyed through resemblance. Adhering to this idea, we suggest that pantomime can be considered a platform for the emergence of human communication as it is a primordial mode of expression to tell stories without language. Based on that, we maintain that the possibility to explain the advent of language with reference to pantomime represents a way to support a narrative model of language origins., Lebenswelt. Aesthetics and philosophy of experience., N. 13 (2018)

In this paper we propose a pragmatic approach to the evolution of language based on analysis of a particular element of human communication: discourse coherence. We show that coherence is essential for effective communication. Through analysis of a collection of neuropsychological and neurolinguistic studies, we maintain that the proper functioning of executive processes responsible for planning and executing actions plays a key role in the construction of coherent discourses. Studies that tested the discursive and conversational abilities of bonobos have showed that apes are unable to construct a flow of discourse governed by coherence, and therefore, apes’ conversational interactions are quite different from those of humans. We then propose that the emergence of coherence in communication occurred after the split between great apes’ and humans’ lines of descendants and that this emergence might have been the result of a specific gradual development in the course of hominin evolution of the executive functions.

In spite of the fact that most models of language in cognitive science are naturalistic, many authors are skeptical of Darwinism, especially the idea that language may be an evolutionary adaptation. There is a conceptual obstacle at the basis of this skepticism: the connection with Cartesian tradition. To propose a genuinely naturalistic perspective, the models of language inspired by Cartesianism must give way to those tied to the Darwinian perspective. Hence, we propose a model of language origins and functioning based on two hypotheses: (a) the origin of human language is interpretable in reference to the grounding of language in context; (b) the capacities that ensure this grounding are connected to the motor foundation of human communication.

The topic of language origin and evolution has been considered for a long time as a difficult question to address scientifically because of poverty of empirical data and limitations in methodology (Muller, 1861). These considerations have led to the well-known edicts by the Societe de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and the Philological Society of London in 1872 that forbade all members from presenting speeches on the topic.

In this paper we argue that a “hidden link” correlates discourse processing and spatial navigation. Specifically, we argue that two navigational systems (planning the route and landmark knowledge) can be profitably used to account for the analysis of the coherence of the flow of discourse. Consistent with this hypothesis, some brain regions activated by spatial navigation tasks are strikingly overlapping with the regions involved in discourse processing. Moreover, brain damaged people have severe deficits at the level of discourse processing that can be interpreted in terms of an impaired navigational capacity to orient themselves in the flow of discourse.

T term Executive Functions (EFs; also executive control or cognitive control) refers to the higher order cognitive processes involved in the regulation of goal-oriented actions in complex contexts and non-routine situations (Gilbert and Burgess, 2008). EFs are crucial for the temporal organization of purposive behaviors, language and reasoning (Fuster, 2008). There is no single taxonomy of EFs that scholars generally agree upon (Jurado and Rosselli, 2007). The various models proposed in the literature suggest that EFs capacities entail several key components, including flexibility, planning, monitoring, working memory, and inhibition (Ardila, 2008). Although a dynamic and flexible network involving several cortical and subcortical brain regions mediates EFs, there is a consensus that their main neural substrate is the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (Fuster, 2008). Specifically, the dorsolateral region of PFC is generally involved in classic EFs such as planning, problem-solving and some working memory operations, whereas the orbitofrontal region is more closely associated with the regulation of emotions and social behavior. Neuroscientific (Barkley, 2001) and comparative (Hills, 2011; Volter and Call, 2014) studies have dealt with the issue of the evolution of EFs. The evolution of EFs for the later PFC regions and their connections with language origins has been the subject of particular interest (Risberg, 2006). Some studies have suggested that the emergence of EFs occurred recently in the evolution of Homo sapiens (Ardila, 2008; Coolidge and Wynn, 2009). According to Coolidge and Wynn (2009) and Wynn and Coolidge (2007), modern humans evolved an enhanced working memory capacity that fostered EFs 32,000 years ago, enabling complex contingency planning, abstract reasoning and innovation. Ardila (2008) has proposed that EFs appeared 150,000 years ago in connection with the advent of language grammar. According to Ardila (2016), the temporal organization of behavior (the core function of EFs) comes from the perception of actions that is correlated with the grammatical ability to use verbs and represent these actions: Temporality means “before” and “after,” that is, something that changes, or develops or moves, that is, an action. (…) the “perception of actions” would represent a single preadaptation both for grammatical language and for meta-cognitive executive functions (Ardila, 2016, p. 2). In this paper, I advocate a different scenario for the phylogenesis of EFs and their connection with language evolution. By reviewing studies coming from Evolutionary Cognitive Archaeology (ECA), I suggest that EFs evolved in the context of toolmaking before the appearance of Homo sapiens. By virtue of this, I treat the issue of the relationship between EFs and language evolution in a different manner to the models that assigned a prominent role to grammar. I hypothesize that language could have had a narrative origin and that the study of the evolution of EFs together with the investigation of the role of EFs in language processing can corroborate this hypothesis.

This brief report is a partial replication of the study by Jackson and Atance (J Dev Disabil 14:40-45, 2008) assessing nonverbal Self-based and Mechanical-based future thinking (FT) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In a first step, these tasks were administered to 30 children with ASD. The two Self-based tasks were then modified as a verbal component could not be completely ruled out. Consequently, 77 children with ASD and 77 children with typical development received the modified Self-based FT tasks and the Mechanical-based FT tasks. We partially replicated the previous findings. Participants with ASD had impaired FT in both kinds of tasks and both groups performed better on tasks assessing Mechanical-based FT than Self-based FT. These results suggest that impairments of FT in ASD are not limited to Self-Projection.

This volume constitutes the first anthology of texts in cognitive semiotics - the new transdisciplinary study of meaning, mind and communication that combines concepts and methods from semiotics, cognitive science and linguistics - from a multitude of established and younger scholars. The chapters deal with the interaction between language and other semiotic resources, the role of consciousness and concepts, the nature of metaphor, the specificity of human evolution and development, the relation between cognitive semiotics and related fields, and other central topics. They are grouped in four sections: (i) Meta-theoretical perspectives, (ii) Semiotic development and evolution, (iii) Meaning across media, modes and modalities, (iv) Language, blends and metaphors. (Less)

In this paper, we analyze the topic of conflict in reference to the evolution of language. Specifically, we examine two key elements involved in conflicting interactions, competition and cooperation, and show how they are involved in the evolution of linguistic skills. We discuss a model of language origins recently proposed by Tomasello (2008) according to which human language is an evolutionary product of the cognitive systems underlying cooperation among individuals in the social group. The core assumption of this model is that the aforementioned fact makes human language qualitatively different from ape communication, which is mainly individualistic because of the competitive nature of nonhuman primates. Our aim in this paper is to call such a model into question by pointing to an “altruism of knowledge” in apes by discussing some recent experimental data on chimpanzee vocal communication. This data allows us to shed light on the evolution of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the origin of human communication and to develop a more gradualistic and continuistic model of language evolution. We conclude with some general consideration of the necessity to integrate the cooperative model of communication with a wider and more complex conception of human language and cognition.

The main intent of this paper is to give an account of the relationship between bio-cognition and culture in terms of coevolution, analysing religious beliefs and language evolution as case studies. The established view in cognitive studies is that bio-cognitive systems constitute a constraint for the shaping and the transmission of religious beliefs and linguistic structures. From this point of view, religion and language are by-products or exaptations of processing systems originally selected for other cognitive functions. We criticize such a point of view, showing that it paves the way for the idea that cultural evolution follows a path entirely autonomous and independent from that of biological evolution. Against the by-product and exaptation approaches, our idea is that it is possible to interpret religion and language in terms of coevolution. The concept of coevolution involves a dual path of constitution: one for which biology (cognition) has adaptive effects on culture, the other for which, in turn, forms of culture have adaptive effects on biology (cognition). This dual path of constitution implies that religion and language are (at least in some aspects) forms of biological adaptations.