Georg Striedter: The University of California, Irvine. Human brains are much larger than one would expect for primates of our body size. They also feature more neurons and a proportionately larger neocortex. Prefrontal cortex, in particular, is significantly larger in humans than in other species. Although these features make the human brain unique, most of […]
Scott A. Reid: University of California, Santa BarbaraThere is evidence that humans have adaptations to avoid outgroup members who potentially harbor novel pathogens. However, intergroup contact can produce fitness costs (e.g., violence and disease), or benefits (e.g., trade, mates, and technologies), which suggests that it would be beneficial to possess an adaptation that enables the […]
Aaron Lukaszewski: Loyola Marymount UniversityTwo basic questions in the study of personality origins are (1) Why do people vary in their personality trait levels? and (2) Why do distinct trait dimensions covary in consistent patterns within individuals, rather than varying independently? The current presentation describes an integrative evolutionary framework within which both of these questions […]
James W. Pennebaker: University of Texas at AustinThe smallest and most frequently used words in English are function words -- pronouns, prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs, etc. These overlooked words are profoundly social and can signal the ways people think, feel, and relate to others. Using a variety of text analysis methods, it is possible to […]
Mark Handcock: University of California, Los AngelesIn this talk we give an overview of social network analysis from the perspective of a statistician. The networks field is, and has been, broadly multidisciplinary with significant contributions from the social, natural and mathematical sciences. This has lead to a plethora of terminology, and network conceptualizations commensurate with […]
Ben Karney: University of California, Los AngelesAmong strangers, no variable has as much power to predict interpersonal judgments as physical appearance. In particular, more physically attractive people are judged as more desirable romantic partners, and generally males have been found to be more affected by a partner’s physical appearance than females. But does physical appearance […]
John Capitanio: University of California, DavisThere has been a growing interest in the study of animal personality, and nonhuman primate research has played a significant role in this field for many decades. My research program has focused on the causes and consequences of variation in personality dimensions in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). In this talk, […]
Lynn Fairbanks: UCLAThere has been considerable interest in gestational and neonatal influences on developmental trajectories in humans and other mammals in recent years. This presentation reviews results from the Vervet Research Colony demonstrating effects of maternal condition, diet and weight loss on maternal and infant behavior. To understand the impact of variation in maternal investment […]
Barry Hewlett: Washington State University, VancouverCultural anthropologists Margaret Mead, David Lancy, and Barbara Rogoff indicate that teaching does not exist or is rare in small-scale cultures. By contrast, recent research by cognitive neuroscientists Gyorgy Gergely and Gergely Csibra indicate that one type of teaching, called natural pedagogy, is a human universal, part of human nature, […]
Montserrat Soler: University of California, Santa BarbaraIn the last ten years, there has been a surge of work dedicated to the study of religion from the point of view of evolutionary studies and cognitive science. These accounts of religion are divided into two main areas: one views religious concepts as by-products of other cognitive capacities, […]
