Research

Research

Most of my group’s research concerns the evolution of social learning. We are interested in questions such as how and why capacities for social learning evolved, and which species share particular social learning mechanisms. We are also interested in social learning as an evolutionary process in itself, generating cultural evolution, and we have carried out studies to investigate the outcomes of this process.

Cultural Evolution

We have carried out experimental studies of cultural change under laboratory conditions, using “microsocieties” (groups of participants who learn from each other). This method can be used to investigate how behaviours and/or artefacts change as a result of repeated social transmission. Some of our studies have looked at the evolution of technology using simple tasks (e.g. see Caldwell & Millen, 2008, Evolution and Human Behavior; Caldwell & Millen, 2009, Psychological Science, for studies using our paper aeroplane and spaghetti tower tasks). Other studies have looked at the cultural evolution of communication (e.g. see Matthews et al., 2012, Evolution and Human Behavior; Caldwell & Smith, 2012, PLoS One).

(Caldwell & Smith, 2012, PLoS One)

Comparative Cognition

Our group also investigates the learning and behaviour of nonhuman species (mainly primates) particularly in relation to social learning. For example, we have found evidence of emotional contagion in marmosets (e.g. see Watson & Caldwell, 2010, American Journal of Primatology) and we are currently looking for similar effects in capuchin monkeys. We are also investigating the phenomenon of automatic imitation in capuchin monkeys.