Definition
The unobservability hypothesis (Vonk and Povinelli 2006) stipulates that one essential difference between the cognitive capacities of humans and nonhumans is that humans, but not nonhumans, are capable of reasoning about theoretical entities that cannot take on physical form. Such entities consist of hypothetical constructs such as traits, physical forces, and mental states.
Introduction
Comparative and cognitive researchers have long debated the facets of human cognition that allow for our uniquely human abilities. Scientists quibble over the extent to which human cognition is qualitatively distinct from that of nonhumans (see Penn et al. 2008and related commentaries), but they cannot feasibly deny that humans stand alone with regard to the capacity to alter their environments, create technology, devise symbolic systems for communication, and so on. What is more contentious is identifying the cognitive trait or suite of traits that allowed for such distinctiveness in the...
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References
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Vonk, J. (2016). Unobservability Hypothesis, The (Vonk and Povinelli, 2006). In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3115-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3115-1
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