Humans possess an unparalleled capacity to learn socially from others with extraordinary fidelity. This capacity has given rise to complex, cumulative culture. And cumulative culture, in turn, has been essential for the success humans have enjoyed in recent evolutionary history. Unsurprisingly, then, social learning receives centre-stage attention in evolutionary anthropology and related evolutionary sciences. Important, but unanswered questions include: What social learning strategies do people employ in everyday life?
Moreover, do individuals differ in the social learning strategies they use? And if they do, what explains those differences, both at the proximate and the ultimate level? Does strategy-use, for example, differ as a function of learners’ demographics, their life-history strategies, basic personality traits, the cultural context, or historical/generational trends?
Your profile:
- PhD in evolutionary anthropology or related evolutionary sciences, such as behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, or evolutionary psychology.
- Keen interests in social learning, experience sampling methodology/ ambulatory assessment, and personality and, ideally, expertise in (some of) those areas.