Research unit


The tools made by humans compared to those used by non-human primates

John Gilbert studies the tools made and applied by humans compared to the tools used by non-human primates. Important questions are: (i) What are the cognitive correlations or implications of the type of action which is supported by the use of tools?, (ii) Are there similarities between the pattern exposed by general tool mediated manipulation on the one hand and the pattern (logic or systematic) of linguistic behavior on the other?, (iii) If the introduction of the early stone tools supplies the stepping stone to typical human cultural development, how can these crude tools be related to modern sophisticated technical manipulations and to higher cognitive processes?