#851 Alecia Carter: Thanatology, Animal Personality, Comparative Psychology, and Culture
Dr. Alecia Carter is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at University College London. Her current research investigates (1) how primates respond to the deaths of others and what this can tell us about the evolution of cognition and emotion and (2) how individuals access information to make decisions. In particular, she studies how individuals use their social environment to access information, and how their phenotype, their individual characteristics, may limit their use of that information. Her previous research addressed how and why animals’ behavior varies from others but is consistent through time.
In this episode, we talk about thanatology, animal personality, and culture. We talk about what thanatology is, and go through some of the ways baboons react to infants’ corpses, with a focus on carrying behaviors. We discuss issues related to anthropomorphism and biological continuity. We then talk about conceptual and methodological challenges in the study of animal personality; studying personality in the wild versus the lab; and comparing personality across species. We discuss how social learning is studied in behavioral ecology, and we talk about culture, social transmission of information, and innovation. Finally, we discuss Dr. Carter’s work on women’s visibility in academic seminars.
Time Links:
Intro
What is thanatology?
Do animals have a concept of death?
Baboon thanatology, and reacting to infants’ corpses
Carrying behaviors as by-products of evolution
Other kinds of reaction
Anthropomorphizing, and biological continuity
Conceptual and methodological challenges in the study of animal personality
Studying personality in the wild versus the lab
Personality, decision-making, and social learning
Studying social learning in behavioral ecology
Comparing personality across species
Culture, social transmission of information, and innovation
Women’s visibility in academic seminars
Follow Dr. Carter’s work!
Follow Dr. Carter’s work:
University page: http://bit.ly/3JYFixO
Website: https://bit.ly/3TGbCIT
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/3JFf5To
Twitter handle: @alecia_carter