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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–5Cite as

Communication and Social Cognition

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Synonyms

Nonverbal; Social thinking; Verbal

Definitions

Communication:

the act of a message being sent by a communicator to a recipient; usually refers to aspects of spoken and nonverbal (e.g., facial expressions, gestures) language that enable message delivery and reception but may also refer to written language

Social cognition:

mental processes that enable thinking about the self and others; key in navigating social situations and expectations

Introduction

Humans have evolved to communicate with one another through necessity and desire. After all, humans are social beings. In order to be successful group members, early humans communicated with one another within their social groups to coordinate efforts that promoted survival, such as hunting, gathering, and protection strategies. Communication was also used in early humans to warn of the approach of threats, such as predators. Later, written language developed throughout the world as a way to record historical events, important...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bethel College, North Newton, OK, USA

    Rachel H. Messer

  2. Psychology Department, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Guadalupe D. S. Gonzalez

Authors
  1. Rachel H. Messer
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  2. Guadalupe D. S. Gonzalez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel H. Messer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Redlands, Redlands, CA, USA

    Catherine Salmon

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© 2019 This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply

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Messer, R.H., Gonzalez, G.D.S. (2019). Communication and Social Cognition. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3606-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3606-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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