Exploring the Mind | What Children and Chimpanzees Reveal about the Origins of Human Cooperation on AADL.TV

When

Monday September 27, 2021: 7:00pm to 8:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

AADL.TV

Description

Why do humans cooperate with others?

Humans are able to cooperate with others in sophisticated, flexible ways: assisting others who need help, working collaboratively in teams, and sharing resources according to what’s ‘fair’. How do humans accomplish these behaviors? In some views, we are initially driven by purely selfish motives and must be taught to be cooperative. Yet other views suggest we have a biological predisposition for cooperation that emerges early. This talk presents psychological research with children and chimpanzees that provide insight both into the evolutionary origins of human cooperation, and the factors that shape them over child development.

Dr. Felix Warneken is Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Trained as a developmental and comparative psychologist, he and his students investigate the social behaviors of human children and chimpanzees, with a focus on the origins of cooperation and morality. He has received several awards from organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation and the Association for Psychological Science. His research has been featured in several documentaries broadcast on PBS NOVA, CBC, and Netflix.

This program is in partnership with the University of Michigan Department of Psychology.