Examining the Foundations of Cultural Intelligence Through Behavioral Flexibility
This interdisciplinary research project examines cognitive and cultural evolution by comparing learning in humans to other animal species. In partnership with the National Center for Chimpanzee Care, Bastrop, Texas, the project has a particular focus on studying children and chimpanzees. Using an experimental approach, the project aims to shed light on 1) How cultural learning in humans differs from that of other animals, 2) which cognitive mechanisms support cumulative culture, and 3) the theoretical and methodological boundaries to conducting fair cross-species comparisons.
Humans have the most complex and diverse technology among all animal species. We have spacecraft and computers, schools and complex language. This is a result of our ability for cumulative culture — the ability to learn from and build upon others’ skills, technology and knowledge over generations. Computers, for example, are the product of centuries of cumulative cultural improvement; they have evolved from steam-based analytical engines in the early 1800s, to large, single-circuit digital desktops computers, all of which are products of building upon others’ output (with hundreds of iterations in between), paving the way for the lightweight and computationally powerful laptops we use today. Cumulative culture is widely held to be critical to the success of humans, allowing us to adapt to new challenges and environments, and ultimately inhabit all corners of the planet. By comparison, chimpanzees, our joint closest living relatives, have largely used the same foraging technology for thousands of years. We are interested in understanding how our capacity for cumulative culture evolved, what supports its development over childhood, and whether other animals have more basic forms of cumulative culture.
Our team is committed to the principles of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), including supporting the use of more broad and diverse measures to assess the value and impact of research outputs, beyond journal-based metrics.
Current Studies
What are the foundations of cumulative culture in apes and children?
A vital prerequisite of cumulative culture is the ability to flexibly adjust our behaviors by switching to more productive or efficient alternatives. This allows us to build upon current skills and knowledge to improve our technology over time. Fundamental to this ability to switch behaviors is cognitive flexibility. Previous research has shown that chimpanzees are reluctant to switch from previously learned, inefficient puzzle solutions, even when they are provided with far more efficient ones. This ‘conservatism’ hinders chimpanzees’ ability to improve their existing skillsets, which may explain their lack of complex cumulative culture. We are studying whether young children are better able than chimpanzees to flexibly switch to new, more efficient behaviors. To better understand what, if anything, facilitates the propensity to switch to improved behaviors, we are also investigating whether the risk of losing the reward impacts the likelihood of children and chimpanzees’ switching to more efficient behaviors. This will shed light on the role cognitive flexibility plays in the development of cumulative culture.
The development and evolution of tool innovation
Tool use is essential to all human populations, and the complexity and pervasiveness of human tool use is unmatched among all other animal species. Our ability to innovate with tools allows us to survive and flourish in all corners of the globe. Yet, research from around the world has shown that children are extremely poor at innovating new tools and it takes most of childhood for children to solve simple tool innovation tasks. In this project we assess, 1) why is it that humans have such diverse and sophisticated technology but solving such simple tool innovation challenges is so remarkably difficult for children, and 2) how chimpanzees compare to children on tool innovation challenges.
First, we developed a potential explanation to describe why tool innovation takes a long time to develop. We suggest that key to tool innovation are cognitive processes such as executive functions (cognitive processes which allow us to control our behavior), creativity, copying others, and the ability to plan and problem solve. These processes develop throughout childhood alongside children’s tool innovation abilities. We are currently developing tasks and experiments to study the relationship between these cognitive processes and tool innovation performance from early to late childhood.
Tool use is also an important component of chimpanzee foraging. We have also examined the different ways chimpanzees and children put tools together to solve problems. Chimpanzees and children were given a straight tool to access a reward from within a narrow tube. They could modify the tools by adding parts together, subtracting parts or by reshaping them. Results suggest that tool innovation is difficult for chimpanzees, but that tool use is relatively easy. By contrast, children begin to outperform chimpanzees at around four years of age on all types of innovation. This potentially suggests that from a young age, humans possess a unique ability to generate new ways to create and modify tools.
Future Studies
Broadening studies species in the field of cumulative culture
Human cumulative culture is undoubtedly unique in its complexity and breadth. No other animal species has smartphones, computers or spacecraft. However, while other animals may show more basic forms of cumulative culture our ability to detect it may be impeded by the methods we use to study it outside of humans. This includes an over reliance on nonhuman primates, and on paradigms focusing on tool use behaviors. Indeed, some of the most convincing evidence of cumulative culture comes from the vocal communication of birds and whales. A core goal of our future research program is to enhance our ability to make fairer cross-species comparisons by scrutinizing the methods we use in the field to widen the species we study. In doing so, we will be better placed to infer what underlies species differences in cumulative culture.
Collaborators
- Project PI: Cristine Legare, Professor of Psychology and Director of Center for Applied Cognitive Science, The University of Texas at Austin
- Bruce Rawlings, The University of Texas at Austin
- Sarah Davis, St. Andrews University
- Natalia Albuquerque, University of São Paulo
- Andrew Whiten, St. Andrews University
- Gillian Vale, National Center for Chimpanzee Care and Georgia State University
- Sarah Brosnan, Georgia State University
- Karri Neldner, University of Queensland
- Mark Nielsen, University of Queensland
- Marie Monfils, The University of Texas at Austin
Funding
The project is supported by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Cristine Legare is PI.
Field Sites
- Austin, Texas, USA