Doctoral Dissertation Research: Cognition and problem-solving in a social non-human primate

Humans inhabit and thrive in almost every corner of the globe thanks to adaptations and complex skills than enhance our species’ ecological flexibility. Contributing to this flexibility are cognitive traits, such as problem-solving capabilities, that allow us to respond to fluctuating conditions. However, the evolution of these cognitive capacities is not fully understood, and comparative behavioral and cognitive studies in non-human primate species can contribute to this understanding. This doctoral dissertation project assesses problem solving and knowledge transmission in a social non-human primate, using experiments in a wild setting. In addition to training a graduate student, the project promotes education through varied outreach activities and training, including the development of educational material. This study assesses how a social non-human primate species solves complex tasks and transmits learned behaviors to others. To attain this goal, the study implements field-friendly experiments that assess: (1) how this species innovates (solves novel foraging tasks), (2) how it adapts (changes behavior when a previously learned solution no longer works), and (3) what factors affect whether individuals learn from others, and who they learn from. Methods include the implementation of a multi-access box paradigm with three experimental phases, and eighteen (n=18) trials per box. Boxes are placed in platforms, and cameras are used to record the behavior. Field observations during testing identify each engaged individual, narrate the engaged individual’s behavior, identify and record individuals located within 5m of the platforms, time that individuals spend observing participants, social interactions, and experimental outcomes (e.g., solutions used). All experimental videos will be edited and coded. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.