---
abstract: 'Humans are expert users of metarepresentations. How has this human metarepresentational capacity evolved? In order to contribute to the ongoing debate on this question, the chapter focuses on three more specific issues: i. How do humans metarepresent representations? ii. What came first: language, or metarepresentations? iii. Do humans have more than one metarepresentational ability?'
altloc:
  - http://perso.club-internet.fr/sperber/metarep.htm
chapter: ~
commentary: ~
commref: ~
confdates: ~
conference: ~
confloc: ~
contact_email: ~
creators_id: []
creators_name:
  - family: Sperber
    given: Dan
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
date: 2000
date_type: published
datestamp: 2000-03-03
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/08/51
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edit_lock_user: ~
editors_id: []
editors_name:
  - family: Sperber
    given: Dan
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 851
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/text_html.png;/851/1/metarep.htm
full_text_status: public
importid: ~
institution: ~
isbn: ~
ispublished: inpress
issn: ~
item_issues_comment: []
item_issues_count: 0
item_issues_description: []
item_issues_id: []
item_issues_reported_by: []
item_issues_resolved_by: []
item_issues_status: []
item_issues_timestamp: []
item_issues_type: []
keywords: 'evolution, psychology, origin of language, metarepresentation, cognition, communication, reasoning, representation, theory of mind, Machiavellian hypothesis, mindreading, comprehension, pragmatics, relevance theory'
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:20
latitude: ~
longitude: ~
metadata_visibility: show
note: ~
number: ~
pagerange: ~
pubdom: FALSE
publication: Metarepresentations
publisher: 'Oxford University Press, New York'
refereed: FALSE
referencetext: ~
relation_type: []
relation_uri: []
reportno: ~
rev_number: 8
series: ~
source: ~
status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:35:04
subjects:
  - cog-psy
  - evol-psy
  - ling-prag
  - phil-lang
  - phil-mind
succeeds: ~
suggestions: ~
sword_depositor: ~
sword_slug: ~
thesistype: ~
title: Metarepresentations in an evolutionary perspective
type: bookchapter
userid: 465
volume: ~
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