Adaptive age-dependent learning in a wild primate population and its effects on cultural evolution

与其他动物相比，人类进化出了复杂得多的文化，也更加依赖教学作为传递信息的手段。科学家们争论这些分歧的相互竞争的进化解释，一个有希望的理论途径强调这些特征和人类生活史特征之间的联系：长的青少年时期和寿命，合作育儿，以及相对较大的大脑尺寸。 在这个项目中，研究人员将研究非人类灵长类物种（卷尾猴）如何发明新行为并从野外其他物种获得行为的年龄相关变化。因为卷尾猴独立进化出了一种不那么极端的人类生活史模式（例如，发育缓慢、寿命长、大脑相对于身体尺寸大、与各种不同的亲戚长期共同居住），他们可以深入了解生活史特征在促进特定类型的社会学习中的作用。该研究项目还将包括一些培训和科学教育活动。研究小组将为大约12名青年科学家提供实地考察机会和指导，从而提高他们进入研究生院的机会;让高中生参与数据分析;并向研究地点附近的学校介绍科学方法和热带森林养护。研究人员还将与摄像师和当地环境教育工作者合作，制作材料，激励学生学习，欣赏和保护高度濒危的热带干旱森林。人类独特的表现出累积的文化进化提出的因素，包括长期的青少年时期，使学习，知识的代际传递，合作照顾后代，进一步促进学习，和心理理论。发展心理学的理论模型和实证研究表明，试错学习和社会学习之间的权衡，以及创造力和坚持行之有效的解决方案之间的权衡，在生命过程中发生变化。然而，为了测试用于解释人类这些发现的理论模型，研究人员需要非人类灵长类动物的比较数据，以了解新行为变体的出现和传播，以及人口年龄结构对新思想社会传播的影响。数据将在Lomas Barbudal猴子项目中收集，现在已经连续第30年。有10个社会群体的遗传亲属关系数据，包括祖父母-孙子关系数据。重点动物行为采样将集中在最年长和最年幼的动物，并将包括（除了社交互动和物体处理的常规记录外）凝视监测、婴儿-同种异体交流和共同注意物体的实例。 群组扫描将记录社交网络结构。来自所有小组成员的数据将用于记录在解决行为剧目中两个最困难的觅食任务方面的灵活性，以及任何行为创新。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Compared to other animals, humans have evolved far more complex cultures and much greater reliance on teaching as a means of transmitting information. Scientists debate competing evolutionary explanations for these divergences, and a promising theoretical avenue emphasizes links between these traits and human life history traits: long juvenile periods and lifespans, cooperative childcare, and large relative brain size. In this project, researchers will study age-related changes in how a non-human primate species (capuchins) invents new behaviors and acquires behaviors from others in the wild. Because capuchins have independently evolved a less extreme version of the human life history pattern (e.g., slow development, long lifespans, large brains for body size, and prolonged co-residence with a variety of caregiving relatives), they can generate insights into the role of life history traits in promoting particular types of social learning. This research project will also include a number of training and science education activities. The research team will provide fieldwork opportunities and mentoring, and consequently enhanced prospects for admission to graduate school, to approximately 12 young scientists; involve high school students in data analysis; and make presentations about scientific methods and tropical forest conservation to schools near the research site. Researchers will also collaborate with videographers and with local environmental educators to produce materials to inspire students to study, appreciate, and conserve the highly endangered tropical dry forests.Humans uniquely exhibit cumulative cultural evolution proposed to stem from factors including long juvenile periods that enable learning, intergenerational transmission of knowledge, cooperate care of offspring that further facilitates learning, and theory of mind. Theoretical models, and empirical work in developmental psychology, suggest that the tradeoff between trial-and-error learning and social learning, as well as the tradeoff between creativity and sticking to tried-and-true solutions, shift over the life course. However, in order to test theoretical models used to explain these findings in humans, researchers need non-human primate comparative data about the emergence and spread of new behavioral variants and the effects of population age structure on the social transmission of new ideas. Data will be collected in the Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project, now in its 30th consecutive year. Data on genetic kinship, including grandparent-grandoffspring relationships, are available for ten social groups. Focal animal behavioral sampling will focus on the oldest and youngest animals and will include (besides routine recording of social interactions and object handling) gaze monitoring, infant-alloparent communication, and instances of joint attention to objects. Group scans will document the social network structure. Data from all group members will be used to document flexibility in solving two of the most difficult foraging tasks in the behavioral repertoire, and any behavioral innovations.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.