Trends in Cognitive Sciences

, volume 28 , issue 2 , pages 172-186

Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history

Nicolas Baumard ¹

L. Safra ^{1, 2}

Mauricio Martins ^{1, 3}

Mauricio J D Martins ^{1, 3}

Coralie Chevallier ¹

Hide authors affiliations Show authors affiliations: 3 affiliations

Institut Jean Nicod, École Normale Supérieure (ENS)–Université de Paris Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’études cognitives, Ecole normale supérieure, Université PSL, EHESS, CNRS, Paris, France

Paris Sciences et Lettres

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University

Centre de Recherches Politiques de Sciences Po (CEVIPOF), Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), Paris, France |

SCAN-Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria |

Publication type: Journal Article

Publication date: 2024-02-01

Elsevier

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

scimago Q1

wos Q1

SJR: 4.506

CiteScore: 26.9

Impact factor: 17.2

ISSN: 13646613, 1879307X

DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.10.001

Copy DOI

PubMed ID: 37949792

Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Neuroscience

Abstract

Psychology is crucial for understanding human history. When aggregated, changes in the psychology of individuals – in the intensity of social trust, parental care, or intellectual curiosity – can lead to important changes in institutions, social norms, and cultures. However, studying the role of psychology in shaping human history has been hindered by the difficulty of documenting the psychological traits of people who are no longer alive. Recent developments in psychology suggest that cultural artifacts reflect in part the psychological traits of the individuals who produced or consumed them. Cultural artifacts can thus serve as 'cognitive fossils' – physical imprints of the psychological traits of long-dead people. We review the range of materials available to cognitive and behavioral scientists, and discuss the methods that can be used to recover and quantify changes in psychological traits throughout history.

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GOST |

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GOST Copy

Baumard N. et al. Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history // Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2024. Vol. 28. No. 2. pp. 172-186.

GOST all authors (up to 50) Copy

Baumard N., Safra L., Martins M., Martins M. J. D., Chevallier C. Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history // Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2024. Vol. 28. No. 2. pp. 172-186.

RIS |

Cite this

RIS Copy

TY - JOUR

DO - 10.1016/j.tics.2023.10.001

UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1364661323002590

TI - Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history

T2 - Trends in Cognitive Sciences

AU - Baumard, Nicolas

AU - Safra, L.

AU - Martins, Mauricio

AU - Martins, Mauricio J D

AU - Chevallier, Coralie

PY - 2024

DA - 2024/02/01

PB - Elsevier

SP - 172-186

IS - 2

VL - 28

PMID - 37949792

SN - 1364-6613

SN - 1879-307X

ER -

BibTex |

Cite this

BibTex (up to 50 authors) Copy

@article{2024_Baumard,

author = {Nicolas Baumard and L. Safra and Mauricio Martins and Mauricio J D Martins and Coralie Chevallier},

title = {Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history},

journal = {Trends in Cognitive Sciences},

year = {2024},

volume = {28},

publisher = {Elsevier},

month = {feb},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1364661323002590},

number = {2},

pages = {172--186},

doi = {10.1016/j.tics.2023.10.001}

}

MLA

Cite this

MLA Copy

Baumard, Nicolas, et al. “Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 28, no. 2, Feb. 2024, pp. 172-186. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1364661323002590.

Publisher

Elsevier

Journal

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

scimago Q1

wos Q1

SJR

4.506

CiteScore

26.9

Impact factor

17.2

ISSN

13646613 (Print)

1879307X (Electronic)