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Simulating the real origins of communication (2014)
Journal Article
Blythe, R., & Scott-Phillips, T. (2014). Simulating the real origins of communication. PLoS ONE, 9(11), Article e113636. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113636

How communication systems emerge is a topic of relevance to several academic disciplines. Numerous existing models, both mathematical and computational, study this emergence. However, with few exceptions, these models all build some form of communica... Read More about Simulating the real origins of communication.

Primate comparative neuroscience using magnetic resonance imaging: promises and challenges (2014)
Journal Article
Mars, R., Neubert, F., Verhagen, L., Sallet, J., Miller, K., Dunbar, R., & Barton, R. (2014). Primate comparative neuroscience using magnetic resonance imaging: promises and challenges. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, Article 298. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00298

Primate comparative anatomy is an established field that has made rich and substantial contributions to neuroscience. However, the labor-intensive techniques employed mean that most comparisons are often based on a small number of species, which limi... Read More about Primate comparative neuroscience using magnetic resonance imaging: promises and challenges.

Rapid Evolution of the Cerebellum in Humans and Other Great Apes (2014)
Journal Article
Barton, R., & Venditti, C. (2014). Rapid Evolution of the Cerebellum in Humans and Other Great Apes. Current Biology, 24(20), 2440-2444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.08.056

Humans’ unique cognitive abilities are usually attributed to a greatly expanded neocortex, which has been described as ‘‘the crowning achievement of evolution and the biological substrate of human mental prowess’’ [1]. The human cerebellum, however,... Read More about Rapid Evolution of the Cerebellum in Humans and Other Great Apes.

The 2D:4D digit ratio and social behaviour in wild female chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in relation to dominance, aggression, interest in infants, affiliation and heritability (2014)
Journal Article
Howlett, C., Setchell, J., Hill, R., & Barton, R. (2015). The 2D:4D digit ratio and social behaviour in wild female chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in relation to dominance, aggression, interest in infants, affiliation and heritability. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 69(1), 61-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1817-5

Prenatal androgens are responsible for sex differences in behaviour and morphology in many species, causing changes in neural structure and function that persist throughout life. Some variation in the expression of behaviour between individuals of th... Read More about The 2D:4D digit ratio and social behaviour in wild female chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in relation to dominance, aggression, interest in infants, affiliation and heritability.

Biogeographic Variation in the Diet and Behaviour of Cercopithecus mitis (2014)
Journal Article
Coleman, B., & Hill, R. (2014). Biogeographic Variation in the Diet and Behaviour of Cercopithecus mitis. Folia Primatologica, 85(5), 319-334. https://doi.org/10.1159/000368895

Primate species are characterised by variation in foraging behaviour and dietary composition across their geographic range. Here we examine how ecological conditions account for variation in the behavioural ecology of a widespread arboreal guenon, Ce... Read More about Biogeographic Variation in the Diet and Behaviour of Cercopithecus mitis.

Groups' Actions Trump Injunctive Reaction in an Incidental Observation by Young Children (2014)
Journal Article
Turner, C. R., Nielsen, M., & Collier-Baker, E. (2014). Groups' Actions Trump Injunctive Reaction in an Incidental Observation by Young Children. PLoS ONE, 9(9), Article e107375. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107375

Children's ability to use social information to direct their behavior is key to their survival and development. However, in observing adult behavior, children are confronted with multiple forms of social information that may vary in reliability and a... Read More about Groups' Actions Trump Injunctive Reaction in an Incidental Observation by Young Children.

Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: Implications for cultural diversity (2014)
Journal Article
Kendal, R., Hopper, L., Whiten, A., Brosnan, S., Lambeth, S., Schapiro, S., & Hoppitt, W. (2015). Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: Implications for cultural diversity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(1), 65-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.09.002

Evolutionary theory predicts that natural selection will fashion cognitive biases to guide when, and from whom, individuals acquire social information, but the precise nature of these biases, especially in ecologically valid group contexts, remains u... Read More about Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: Implications for cultural diversity.

Discontinuity waves as tipping points: Applications to biological & sociological systems (2014)
Journal Article
Bissell, J., & Straughan, S. (2014). Discontinuity waves as tipping points: Applications to biological & sociological systems. Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems - Series B, 19(7), 1911-1934. https://doi.org/10.3934/dcdsb.2014.19.1911

The `tipping point' phenomenon is discussed as a mathematical object, and related to the behaviour of non-linear discontinuity waves in the dynamics of topical sociological and biological problems. The theory of such waves is applied to two illustrat... Read More about Discontinuity waves as tipping points: Applications to biological & sociological systems.

A comparison of heterosexual and homosexual mating preferences in personal advertisements (2014)
Journal Article
Lawson, J., James, C., Jannson, A., Koyama, N., & Hill, R. (2014). A comparison of heterosexual and homosexual mating preferences in personal advertisements. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(5), 408-414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.05.006

Human heterosexual mating preferences have been shown to conform to predictions drawn from evolutionary theory, with men and women adopting broadly distinct strategies. Attempts to reconcile sexual selection theory with homosexual behaviour have been... Read More about A comparison of heterosexual and homosexual mating preferences in personal advertisements.

Social tipping points and Earth systems dynamics (2014)
Journal Article
Bentley, R., Maddison, E., Ranner, P., Bissell, J., Caiado, C., Bhatanacharoen, P., …Garnett, P. (2014). Social tipping points and Earth systems dynamics. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2, Article 35. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2014.00035

Recently, Early Warning Signals (EWS) have been developed to predict tipping points in Earth Systems. This discussion highlights the potential to apply EWS to human social and economic systems, which may also undergo similar critical transitions. Soc... Read More about Social tipping points and Earth systems dynamics.

Human observers impact habituated samango monkeys’ perceived landscape of fear (2014)
Journal Article
Nowak, K., le Roux, A., Richards, S., Scheijen, C., & Hill, R. (2014). Human observers impact habituated samango monkeys’ perceived landscape of fear. Behavioral Ecology, 25(5), 1199-1204. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru110

Humans and human infrastructure are known to alter the relationship between predators and prey, typically by directly or indirectly shielding one of the species from the other. In addition to these overt changes to animals’ behavior, observers may ha... Read More about Human observers impact habituated samango monkeys’ perceived landscape of fear.

An experimental demonstration of the effect of group size on cultural accumulation (2014)
Journal Article
Kempe, M., & Mesoudi, A. (2014). An experimental demonstration of the effect of group size on cultural accumulation. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(4), 285-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.02.009

Cumulative culture is thought to have played a major role in hominin evolution, and so an understanding of the factors that affect cultural accumulation is important for understanding human evolution. Population size may be one such factor, with larg... Read More about An experimental demonstration of the effect of group size on cultural accumulation.

Serial killers, spiders and cybersex : social and survival information bias in the transmission of urban legends (2014)
Journal Article
Stubbersfield, J., Tehrani, J., & Flynn, E. (2015). Serial killers, spiders and cybersex : social and survival information bias in the transmission of urban legends. British Journal of Psychology, 106(2), 288-307. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12073

This study uses urban legends to examine the effects of the social information bias and survival information bias on cultural transmission across three phases of transmission: the choose-to-receive phase, the encode-and-retrieve phase, and the choose... Read More about Serial killers, spiders and cybersex : social and survival information bias in the transmission of urban legends.

Comment: Beyond “Evolutionary versus Social”: Moving the Cycle Shift Debate Forward (2014)
Journal Article
Brown, G., Cross, C., Street, S., & Brand, C. (2014). Comment: Beyond “Evolutionary versus Social”: Moving the Cycle Shift Debate Forward. Emotion Review, 6(3), 250-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914523050

Wood, Kressel, Joshi, and Louie (2014) thoroughly evaluate the evidence for menstrual cycle shifts in ratings of several male characteristics and conclude that their analyses fail to provide supportive evidence for consistent cycle effects. The topic... Read More about Comment: Beyond “Evolutionary versus Social”: Moving the Cycle Shift Debate Forward.

Young Children Make Their Gestural Communication Systems More Language-Like: Segmentation and Linearization of Semantic Elements in Motion Events (2014)
Journal Article
Clay, Z., Pople, S., Hood, B., & Kita, S. (2014). Young Children Make Their Gestural Communication Systems More Language-Like: Segmentation and Linearization of Semantic Elements in Motion Events. Psychological Science, 25(8), 1518-1525. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614533967

Research on Nicaraguan Sign Language, created by deaf children, has suggested that young children use gestures to segment the semantic elements of events and linearize them in ways similar to those used in signed and spoken languages. However, it is... Read More about Young Children Make Their Gestural Communication Systems More Language-Like: Segmentation and Linearization of Semantic Elements in Motion Events.