{"title":"Giorgio Vallortigara","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"born-knowing-book-giorgio-vallortigara-9780262045933","title":"Born Knowing","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn expert on the brain argues that the mind is not a blank slate and that much early behavior is biologically predisposed rather than learned.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhy do newborns show a preference for a face (or something that resembles a face) over a nonface-like object? Why do baby chicks prefer a moving object to an inanimate one? Neither baby human nor baby chick has had time to learn to like faces or movement. In \u003ci\u003eBorn Knowing\u003c\/i\u003e, neuroscientist Giorgio Vallortigara argues that the mind is not a blank slate. Early behavior is biologically predisposed rather than learned, and this instinctive or innate behavior, Vallortigara says, is key to understanding the origins of knowledge. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on research carried out in his own laboratory over several decades, Vallortigara explores what the imprinting process in young chicks, paralleled by the cognitive feats of human newborns, reveals about minds at the onset of life. He explains that a preference for faces or representations of something face-like and animate objects--predispositions he calls life detectors--streamlines learning, allowing minds to avoid a confusing multiplicity of objects in the environment, and he considers the possibility that autism spectrum disorders might be linked to a deficit in the preference for the animate. He also demonstrates that animals do not need language to think, and that addition and subtraction can be performed without numbers. The origin of knowledge, Vallortigara argues, is the wisdom that humans and animals possess as basic brain equipment, the product of natural history rather than individual development.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49624898273553,"sku":"GOR012313596","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49737976021265,"sku":"NGR9780262045933","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52652111298833,"sku":"CIN0262045931G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262045931.jpg?v=1750811941"},{"product_id":"origins-of-consciousness-book-giorgio-vallortigara-9781032792125","title":"The Origins of Consciousness","description":"The Origins of Consciousness challenges the dominant view that consciousness is an emergent property of the complex human brain.  Based on his pioneering research on a variety of organisms, Vallortigara argues that the most basic forms of mental life do not require large brains, and that the neurological surplus observed in some animals such as humans is likely at the service of memory storage, not of the processes of thought or, even less, of consciousness. The book argues for a simple neural mechanism that can provide the crucial event that brings into effect the minimum condition for subjective experience. Implications of the hypothesis for the appearance of consciousness in different organisms are discussed, as well as links with a variety of fascinating human phenomena such as disorders of consciousness, tickling and visual illusions.  Challenging widely accepted theories of consciousness, the book is a must-read for students and researchers of human and animal consciousness.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51017385312529,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51017387311377,"sku":"NIN9781032792125","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52111051489553,"sku":"NGR9781032792125","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52634258702609,"sku":"NLS9781032792125","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1032792124.jpg?v=1750887281"},{"product_id":"origins-of-consciousness-book-giorgio-vallortigara-9781032792132","title":"The Origins of Consciousness","description":"The Origins of Consciousness challenges the dominant view that consciousness is an emergent property of the complex human brain.  Based on his pioneering research on a variety of organisms, Vallortigara argues that the most basic forms of mental life do not require large brains, and that the neurological surplus observed in some animals such as humans is likely at the service of memory storage, not of the processes of thought or, even less, of consciousness. The book argues for a simple neural mechanism that can provide the crucial event that brings into effect the minimum condition for subjective experience. Implications of the hypothesis for the appearance of consciousness in different organisms are discussed, as well as links with a variety of fascinating human phenomena such as disorders of consciousness, tickling and visual illusions.  Challenging widely accepted theories of consciousness, the book is a must-read for students and researchers of human and animal consciousness.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51092679786769,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51092683292945,"sku":"NIN9781032792132","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52636762276113,"sku":"NLS9781032792132","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1032792132.jpg?v=1751365975"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-giorgio-vallortigara.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}