The Comparative Cognition Lab is led by Dr. Federico Rossano and is housed in the Cognitive Science Department at the University of California, San Diego. We study social interaction between humans, between social animals, and between species. We ask questions about the origins of social minds and social behaviors.
To answer these questions, we take a two pronged comparative approach. We study the social development of these behaviors in children and other primates as well as how and why these behaviors may have evolved by looking across species at bonobos, orangutans, chimpanzees, gibbons, macaque monkeys, dogs, and cats. Across our research, we combine behavioral experiments with observational field methods to seek ecological validity.
