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A BURNING DESIRE 445
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JOCC_6.3-4_f5-428-451 9/18/06 12:21 PM Page 445
446 DANIEL M. T. FESSLER
of re occuring a decade or more later than is the case when children
interact with re in a manner more akin to that which has likely been
typical for most of human history. A second possible consequence is that
the motives that drive re learning are only incompletely satised, with
the result that, throughout life, re retains greater allure or fascination
than would normally be the case; in turn, this pattern provides a per-
sonal foundation for the acquisition and perpetuation of the toy mean-
ings ascribed to re in modern societies.
1
For scholars seeking to explore evolutionary hypotheses, the possi-
bilities detailed above constrain the utility of some avenues for explor-
ing re learning in the west, as conclusions derived from naturalistic
observations of western childrens re behavior will likely fail to gener-
alize beyond developed societies. However, precisely the same features
may also enhance the empirical weight of ndings obtained through
experimentation. By way of analogy, Barrett and Behne (2005) conducted
experiments showing that there are remarkable parallels between German
and Shuar children in the development of an understanding of death,
parallels that occur despite the fact that German children have far less
exposure to actual instances of death, and have far more exposure to
misinformation (e.g., cartoon portrayals of immediate recovery from cat-
astrophic injury, etc.). Children in the U.S. are exposed to a plethora
of misinformation concerning re (Hardesty & Gayton, 2002), including
numerous highly unrealistic portrayals of re on toy packaging (Curri
et al., 2003) and in television advertisements (Palmieri et al., 2004).
Consider, for example, the lessons that a child might derive from a
recent Taco Bell commercial in which basketball star Shaquille ONeal
is engulfed in ames, whereupon he calmly asks the camera Is it hot
in here, or is it just me? Paralleling Barretts work, the thesis that
humans possess evolved psychological mechanisms dedicated to the acqui-
sition of re-relevant information predicts that, despite such misinfor-
mation and lack of experience, children in modern societies should
resemble children in small-scale societies, where such resemblance occurs
not with respect to re knowledge per se, but rather with regard to the
1
Similar reasoning may explain the fascination with predators, both real and imag-
inary, that characterizes many modern cultures in which few individuals will ever encounter
a truly dangerous animal (cf. Barrett, 2005).
JOCC_6.3-4_f5-428-451 9/18/06 12:21 PM Page 446
A BURNING DESIRE 447
ease and rapidity with which they learn which substances burn and
which do not, their tendency to make category errors within rather than
across these two classes, and so on. With this in mind, I encourage inves-
tigators to explore the psychology of re in children of both modern
and developing nations.
In addition to having consequences for research into the psycholog-
ical foundations of re learning, the evolutionarily novel nature of west-
ern childrens interactions with re has potentially important implications
for public policy. Fire safety ocials spend a substantial amount of time,
energy, and money trying to educate children regarding the dangers of
re, yet existing evidence suggests that, at best, these eorts have only
limited impact on childrens actual behavior (cf. Cotterall, 2003). In mod-
ern societies, adult-initiated pedagogy such as this plays an important
role in information transfer. However, teaching is far less signicant in
the learning processes that occur in many small-scale societies. Rather,
children spend much of their time either on the sidelines, watching the
skilled performance of locally-adaptive behaviors, or attempting to engage
in play-like learning behaviors (Fiske, n.d.; Mead, 1943); the same appears
to be true of re learning. It is possible that the latter mode is more
appropriate for learning skills having a deep evolutionary history. The
thesis that re learning is shaped by a domain-specic information-acqui-
sition mechanism suggests that opportunities to observe others interact-
ing with re in a mundane fashion, and opportunities to manipulate re
free of the titillation of proscription, may ultimately prove more eective
than direct pedagogy in managing the threat to public safety posed by
childrens re play in modern societies.
As noted earlier, again motivated by public safety concerns, a signicant
portion of the existing research on the psychology of re focuses on
aberrant individuals, persons who are at high risk of recidivism in the
commission of re-related crimes. Importantly, investigations of psy-
chopathology may provide an additional avenue for exploring the evolved
psychology of re use. Just as phobias oer a window into the psycho-
logical mechanisms that evolved to cope with recurrent threats to ances-
tral humans (hman & Mineka, 2001), so too may it be possible to
explore manias as a window into the mechanisms that evolved to cope
with recurrent resources or opportunities (examples unrelated to re
include erotomania and kleptomania). Considerable attention has been
JOCC_6.3-4_f5-428-451 9/18/06 12:21 PM Page 447
448 DANIEL M. T. FESSLER
dedicated to the clinical study of pyromania. However, to date, investi-
gators have largely framed the study of disordered fascination with re
using superordinate categories (e.g., impulse control disorders, aggressiv-
ity disorders, etc.) that overlook the unique importance of re in human
evolution. An evolutionary perspective suggests that useful insights into
the mind of the pyromaniac may be gained by focusing on the specic
features of re that motivate re-setting behavior; at present, we know
little about how or why re excites or stimulates such individuals. Likewise,
light may be shed on pyromania by the thesis that, viewed both cross-
culturally and evolutionarily, western societies structure childrens inter-
actions with re in a highly unusual manner the ontogeny of this
condition may epitomize the costs of disrupting the normal trajectory of
information-acquisition processes that are guided by evolved mechanisms.
Alone among the components of the tool kits of our ancestors, re
continues to play important roles in contemporary human life. Whether
as a useful tool or a destructive object of fascination, re has an impact
on societies large and small, yet we know little about the psychology of
re, re learning, and the impact of culture on these factors. It is high
time that we knew more.
Appendix
Survey Regarding Childrens Interactions With Fire
1. Name of group/society/people at issue.
2. Do you know of any serious burns (including deaths) due to re?
Please briey explain (i.e., age of individual[s], outcome, etc.).
3. At approximately what age do children rst begin interacting with
(i.e., manipulating, poking at, etc.) re? Is there a gender dierence
in this regard?
4. At what age do children typically begin playing with re (carrying
burning objects, building play res, etc.)? In what age range is such
behavior most frequent, if it occurs? Any gender dierences?
5. At what age are children fully competent to maintain a re? At what
age are children fully competent to start/build a re? Any gender
dierences?
JOCC_6.3-4_f5-428-451 9/18/06 12:21 PM Page 448
A BURNING DESIRE 449
6. Do children display entertainment interest in re (i.e., watching re
for long periods, manipulating res to create interesting eects, etc.)?
Are there are age or gender dierences? Do adults display such
interest?
7. Do adults or older children directly instruct children with regard to
the dangers of re? How do children learn techniques for maintain-
ing a re? How do children learn techniques for starting/building a
re?
REFERENCES
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2005 Adaptations to predators and prey. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The evolutionary psy-
chology handbook (pp. 200-223). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
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2005 Childrens understanding of death as the cessation of agency: a test using
sleep versus death. Cognition, 96(2), 93-108.
Bn.ix, C. K., & Sillen, A.
1988 Evidence from the Swartkrans cave for the earliest use of re. Nature, 336(6198),
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Bnovx, D. E.
1991 Human universals. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Co++rn.rr, A. J.
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