Social Cognition

In this research area, we investigate individuals’ ability to infer others’ mental states to guide their own behavior and to facilitate interaction. Numerous theories about human nature and uniqueness highlight social cognition as the key ingredient that sets humans apart from other animals, enabling uniquely human communication, social learning, and cooperation.We study simple and more complex understanding of others' perception, knowledge, desires, emotions, and beliefs, as well as the application of those skills in social settings. We aim to understand the development of uniquely human aspects of social cognition, those we share with other great apes, and how different social and physical environments impact socio-cognitive capacities.