An Adaptationist's View of Comparative Spatial Cognition

This chapter reviews some of the recent experiments investigating spatial cognition that have been predicated on adaptationist hypotheses, specifically that some animals will have faced greater selection pressure on their spatial cognitive abilities than others. In contrast to more traditional experimental psychology, adaptationists seek to explain some of the variation in cognitive abilities, rather than to reduce it via experimental control. Variation in the ways animals solve spatial problems (e.g., cues used) and in their learning and memory capabilities, at least in some situations, appear to be well explained by the demands put on them by their environment or life history. Additionally, the adaptationist approach has lead to the testing of a broader range of species in a wider span of spatial contexts than previously. Chapter Online & Navigation