DIVISION OF GRADUATE STUDIES NEWS ARCHIVE
Campus Researchers Announce
Discovery
From the December 2002 issue of University Journal
A Fresno State psychology research team has announced the discovery and experimental verification of a specific cognitive adaptation for the hunting requirements of the ancient world.
Dr. Matthew Sharps, a professor in the Department of Psychology, said the study, which was published in the Journal of Psychology, reflects what may be the first experimental demonstration of the evolution of a specific cognitive capability to the demands of the ancient world, and to the continued presence of that adaptation in people in the modern world.
"Although psychology has dealt with evolutionary issues for years, specific examples of human psychological evolution have been very rare," Sharps said.
Sharps and his team--graduate students Amy Boothby Villegas, Michael A. Nunes (now a Central Valley school psychologist), and Terry L. Barber--focused on the cognitive basis of tracking.
"Even though hunter-gatherers relied heavily on plant foods," said Sharps, "they spent a great deal of time and energy on hunting for game." He added that animal track recognition and processing would be crucial to ancient hunting, so the research team focused on memory for animal tracks.
