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El futuro como tarea: Cognición orientada al futuro en animales no humanos

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  • Gabriel Corda,
  • Mauro Zapata
Gabriel Corda
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina / Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Mauro Zapata
Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36446/af.e1089

Publicado 2026-03-12

Palabras clave

  • Mentes animales,
  • Pensamiento futuro,
  • Anticipación,
  • Planificación,
  • Asociación
  • Animal Minds,
  • Future Thinking,
  • Anticipation,
  • Planning,
  • Association
Creative Commons License

Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0.

Resumen

Las conductas anticipatorias se encuentran ampliamente extendidas y son fundamentales para la supervivencia, sin embargo, su origen en mecanismos muy diversos limita el valor informativo de atribuir anticipación de forma general. Por ello, este trabajo desarrolla una definición restringida de Cognición Orientada hacia el Futuro (COF) diseñada para investigar las bases cognitivas complejas de dichas conductas en animales no humanos. Se parte de la revisión del paradigma predominante (tareas de elección de objetos), basándose en evidencia de la psicología del desarrollo, para identificar sus limitaciones frente a explicaciones alternativas (asociacionistas o restringidas al presente) y derivar condiciones de control más estrictas. Consecuentemente, se formula una definición restringida de COF que postula como requisitos que la conducta no se origine de una mera asociación y que involucre una representación genuina del futuro, capacidades complejas que emergen tardíamente en el desarrollo humano (desde los 5 años). Finalmente, se examina evidencia reciente en cuervos de Nueva Caledonia donde se aplican controles experimentales similares a los presentes en la evidencia en niños (saliencia de objetos y planificación activa de una secuencia temporal). El éxito de los córvidos bajo estas condiciones experimentales reduce la plausibilidad de las explicaciones alternativas y satisface los criterios de la COF restringida propuesta, ofreciendo así una prueba razonable de esta capacidad cognitiva en la especie.

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