Evolutionary biology of learning

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I am at the forefront of a subdiscipline that integrates evolutionary biology with animal cognition, defined as the set of traits concerned with the acquisition, retention, and use of information. Work in this subdiscipline has successfully changed traditional thinking in biology and psychology. There are three major ongoing projects in my lab. First, we evaluate the relative effect of learning on performance throughout the lifespan. This work, which is the only empirical research program on that important topic, is highly relevant to all species, with potential policy implications in humans. Second, we quantify the adaptive significance of learning in fruit flies and the effects such learning has on assortative mating and incipient speciation. This work has contributed to two fundamental basic-science questions regarding the evolution of learning and the generation of new species through behaviour. Finally, we are commencing a new project examining the role of social learning in fruit flies. Social learning is currently known from some vertebrates and social insects. Examining the origins of social learning can help us understand a fundamental characteristic underlying modern humans and culture.