BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://bec.ucla.edu
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Los_Angeles
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20140309T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20141102T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20150308T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20151101T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20160313T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20161106T090000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151102T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151102T000000
DTSTAMP:20260511T231948
CREATED:20200922T220142Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201013T005127Z
UID:4317-1446422400-1446422400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Drew Rendall - Language Evolution and The (Ir)relevance of Primate Communication
DESCRIPTION:Drew Rendall: University of LethbridgeThe evolution of language is a longstanding problem that continues to invite study\, analysis\, and speculation from a variety of perspectives. One perspective has been to adopt a comparative stance and seek the rudiments of key elements of language in the communication systems of closely related nonhuman primates. While sensible enough\, in principle\, I’ll argue that this search has been focused in the wrong places (like the drunk fumbling in the dark searching the ground for his keys\, not where they’re most likely to be but rather simply where the light is brightest) namely on high-level informational properties of language related to its intentionality\, semantics and syntax. Several decades of such focused research now points to the conclusion that\, in these respects\, primate communication is largely irrelevant. So\, despite their phylogenetic proximity to us\, are other primates in fact not really relevant to the problem of language evolution? I’ll answer\, no… and promise to disambiguate that answer. In the process\, I’ll hope to make some broader points about the enterprise of theorizing\, both in this field but also more generally\, considering how the constructs we use\, the explanatory metaphors we borrow\, and (ironically?) the language we adopt can steer the phenomena we study and aim to explain\, as much as the reverse\, potentially leading us to mistake purely theoretical entities for real ones.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/drew-rendall-language-evolution-and-the-irrelevance-of-primate-communication/
CATEGORIES:Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151109T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151109T000000
DTSTAMP:20260511T231948
CREATED:20200922T220143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201013T005127Z
UID:4318-1447027200-1447027200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Elly Power - Signaling\, Status\, and Social Networks: Religious Practice in Rural South India
DESCRIPTION:Elly Power: Santa Fe InstituteDiscerning the intentions and character of others is a difficult task. In South India\, religious practice is seen as particularly helpful in that process of discernment. There\, the ritual acts undertaken are often quite dramatic: devotees walk across hot coals\, pierce their skin with hooks and spears\, walk barefoot to distant temples\, and sacrifice animals to the divine. What is being communicated through these acts? Drawing on reputational and social support network data\, I show that greater and costlier ritual participation corresponds to greater recognition not only for being devout\, but also for holding a suite of prosocial traits. Perhaps more importantly\, greater and costlier ritual participation also increases the likelihood of a supportive tie between individuals. These findings provide clear support for the costly signaling theory of religion. However\, I will spend much of the talk complicating these simple relationships. Not everyone performs costly ritual acts\, and the reputational benefits that accrue to those who do are not equally distributed. Much of this variation can be explained by the social risks entailed in these acts and the differential ability of villagers to take on those potential costs. To fully understand this signaling system\, a broader understanding of cost\, a wider range of actors\, and a more complete inventory of signals (including not only the dramatic but also the subtle) must all be recognized and taken into account.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/elly-power-signaling-status-and-social-networks-religious-practice-in-rural-south-india/
CATEGORIES:Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151116T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151116T000000
DTSTAMP:20260511T231948
CREATED:20200922T220208Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201013T005127Z
UID:4319-1447632000-1447632000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Joey Cheng - Getting to the Top: Pathways to Social Rank
DESCRIPTION:Joey Cheng: University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe pursuit of social rank is a recurrent and pervasive challenge faced by individuals across human societies. Yet\, the precise means through which individuals compete for social standing remain unclear. This talk examines the dynamics of two fundamental avenues—fear and respect—to social rank. I will begin by highlighting how these strategies differ—in terms of their characteristic personality\, emotional\, verbal\, and nonverbal patterns. I will then present evidence demonstrating the viability of fear and respect for effectively ascending the social hierarchy in both the lab and the field. Finally\, I will discuss new research that examines the impact of fear- and respect-based leadership on group functioning and follower well-being. Taken together\, this emerging line of research suggests that fear and respect represent two distinct pathways to social rank. Underpinned by a unique suite of cognitive\, affective\, and behavioral processes\, these pathways shape the hierarchical order of individuals within groups and promote collective success\, albeit under different circumstances.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/joey-cheng-getting-to-the-top-pathways-to-social-rank/
CATEGORIES:Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151123T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151123T000000
DTSTAMP:20260511T231948
CREATED:20200922T220209Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201013T005127Z
UID:4320-1448236800-1448236800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Melissa Emery Thompson - On Less Fertile Ground: Chimpanzee Life Histories in Context
DESCRIPTION:Melissa Emery Thompson: University of New MexicoAmong the most dramatic changes to occur during human evolution were those affecting our life history. The evolution of the human fertility pattern\, including relatively fast birth rates\, overlapping offspring dependencies\, and extended postreproductive life\, remains an active area of research and debate that can be greatly informed by structured comparisons to the living apes. To do so effectively\, we need high quality data from natural populations\, as well as more detailed information about the physiological mechanisms that regulate fertility in both species. To that end\, I will discuss empirical data on reproductive lifespan\, determinants of fecundity\, regulation of the interbirth interval\, and parental investment  in wild chimpanzees with comparison to human populations. Humans and chimpanzees share remarkably similar patterns for the regulation of fertility. Despite the relatively higher cost of human infants\, human mothers appear less constrained by their reproductive systems than are chimpanzee mothers. These data support the view that the social context of reproduction has been a fundamental contributor to changes in life history.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/melissa-emery-thompson-on-less-fertile-ground-chimpanzee-life-histories-in-context/
CATEGORIES:Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151130T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20151130T000000
DTSTAMP:20260511T231948
CREATED:20200922T220209Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201013T005126Z
UID:4321-1448841600-1448841600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Elizabeth Cashdan - Sex Differences in Mobility and Wayfinding: Cross-Cultural Perspectives
DESCRIPTION:Elizabeth Cashdan: University of UtahSex differences in range size and navigation are widely reported\, with males traveling farther than females\, being less spatially anxious\, and\, in many studies\, navigating more effectively.  We want to know why males range farther\, and what this might tell us about sex differences in wayfinding and spatial confidence.  Proposed evolutionary explanations have suggested that males gain mating benefits from large ranges (mating hypothesis)\, while females incur greater fitness costs from such travel due to parenting constraints (parenting hypothesis).  We find support for both hypotheses\, but a comparison of the polygynous Twe and the monogamous Maya suggests that the importance of the two hypotheses varies facultatively with mating patterns.  Our work in Utah also indicates that women’s greater harm avoidance is a partial mediator of the sex difference in mobility\, which in turn affects navigational style and ability.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/elizabeth-cashdan-sex-differences-in-mobility-and-wayfinding-cross-cultural-perspectives/
CATEGORIES:Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR