CAREER: The Evolution of Cultural Learning

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

As humans, we take for granted that so much of what we know we've learned from others. While social learning is common in the animal kingdom, there is little doubt among scientists that humans are uniquely cultural beings. But what makes humans so uniquely 'cultural?' One possibility is that humans possess an imitation faculty that allows them to abstract a wide range of rules from the actions of others and to remember these rules for a longer period of time than non-human primates (apes). With support from a National Science Foundation CAREER award, Dr. Subiaul will employ a unique imitation learning paradigm that will present human children and apes with identical problems that require them to learn from a model such rules as the order of arbitrary pictures and spatial rules (for example, 'up-down-right'). Though these problems are simple, they involve skills that make cultural learning possible. A better understanding of these abilities will provide us with important insights into what makes our mind like that of other primates and what makes it unique. To answer such interdisciplinary questions, this award will support the National Zoological Park's Think Tank and Great Ape House, where the research with the non-human primates will be conducted. Dr. Subiaul, in collaboration with the curator of primates, will establish the Ape Mind Initiative - a program that will include students from all educational levels: post-doctoral, graduate, undergraduate and high school. Through this initiative, participating students and the public at large will gain unique knowledge about primate intelligence and the need to protect great apes in their natural habitats so that future generations may benefit from comparative research and the insights it provides into the human mind.