Morten Christiansen: Cornell University Department of Psychology Language is undoubtedly governed by innate constraints. Otherwise, it is difficult to account for the close match between the intricate structure of languages and the mechanisms involved in acquiring and processing them. Innate constraints are also needed to explain the existence of language universals; that is, why languages […]
Joseph Manson: UCLA Department of AnthropologyInbreeding reduces fitness in various taxa, and several behavioral and physiological mechanisms have evolved that inhibit fertile matings between close kin. Most commonly, members of one or both sexes disperse before breeding. In primates, males usually disperse and females often benefit from lifelong relationships with maternal kin within the group. […]
Antoine Bechara: USC Department of PsychologyFor a long time, the prefrontal cortex has been considered a “non-functional†brain area, and understanding its function has lagged behind nearly all other areas. This is no longer true since appreciation of the vital role that this brain region plays in adaptive behaviors, and especially decision-making, is now evident […]
Susan Perry: UCLA Department of AnthropologyRecently, discoveries of site-specific behavioral patterns such as the use of hammers and anvils or stick tools in extractive foraging have been documented in wild ape populations. Such discoveries have given rise to much speculation regarding the evolution of cultural capacities in humans, and claims have been made that chimpanzees […]
Francisco J. Ayala: UCI Departments of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and PhilosophyDarwin is deservedly given credit for the theory of biological evolution. He accumulated evidence demonstrating that organisms evolve and diversify through time. Most important, however, is that he discovered natural selection, the process that accounts for the adaptive organization of organisms and their features; […]
Paul Zak: Claremont Graduate University Neuroendocrine Foundations of Trust Department of EconomicsThe traditional view in economics is that individuals respond to incentives, but absent strong incentives to the contrary selfishness prevails. Moreover, this “greed is good†approach is deemed “rational†behavior. Nevertheless, in daily interactions and in numerous laboratory studies, a high degree of cooperative […]
Margo Wilson & Martin Daly: McMaster University Department of PsychologyThe future is almost always worth less to organisms than the present, and evolved psychologies and physiologies 'discount' it accordingly. However, exactly how they do so, how they should do so, and whether real discount functions match theoretical expectations, are unresolved and/or controversial in various details, […]
Jeffrey Brantingham: UCLA Department of Anthropology How specialized is your average Los Angeles "auto boost"? This talk draws on both new and classic foraging models to examine the search strategies deployed by Los Angeles car thieves and evaluates the decision making process underlying how they select individual cars to steal. It seems plausible that many […]
Shinobu Kitayama: University of Michigan Department of PsychologyThere is a general consensus that the history of voluntary settlement in the western frontier constitutes a major element of American individualism. Yet, if voluntary settlement is a causal factor that promoted tacit beliefs and practices of independent agency, there should be similar beliefs and practices among a […]
Gregory F. Grether: UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyNormal development depends on specific environmental inputs. Consequently, when a species encounters novel environmental conditions, some traits may develop abnormally. Changes in the environment can occur, for example, because of climate change or habitat degradation. Like genetic mutations, most environmental perturbations of development are detrimental, and […]
