Research Areas Projects
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Cognitive Science

We study the capacity to learn, create, and transmit culture.

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We are particularly interested in studying cumulative culture — the capacity to build upon the innovations and insights of previous generations. We conduct comparisons across species, cultures, and ages in order to understand cognitive and cultural evolution.

Topics of study include cultural learning, science, religion, ritual, innovation, creativity, and globalization. For example, we have studied the early-developing capacities to acquire and transmit rituals, and are currently studying how formal education impacts scientific and religious beliefs and behaviors across cultures.

Cognitive Science Projects

Featured
Collective Intelligence in Roaches and Rats
Collective Intelligence in Roaches and Rats

Does big culture require big brains? Collective intelligence in roaches and rats

The Process of Spiritualization Through Artistic Activity and Training
The Process of Spiritualization Through Artistic Activity and Training

Investigating traditional apprenticeship techniques to document and explain the transmission and function of ancient Indian art forms.

Examining the Foundations of Cultural Intelligence Through Behavioral Flexibility
Examining the Foundations of Cultural Intelligence Through Behavioral Flexibility

Examining cognitive and cultural evolution by comparing learning in humans to other animal species

The Coexistence of Scientific and Religious Explanations Across Cultures and Development
The Coexistence of Scientific and Religious Explanations Across Cultures and Development

How scientific and religious explanations develop and are used to reason about diverse phenomena

The Mind and Spirit Project
The Mind and Spirit Project

How cultural variation in ideas about the mind shapes the way people seek and experience the supernatural

Ritual, Community, and Conflict
Ritual, Community, and Conflict

Examining the role of ritual in child development, social behaviour, and the evolution of political systems

The Development of Teaching and Social Learning Across Cultures
The Development of Teaching and Social Learning Across Cultures

Studying how culture influences the development of cognition over childhood

 

Related Articles

Articles
Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children’s academic achievement across diverse societies (PDF)

Rawlings, B.*, Davis, H. E.*, Anum, A., Burger, O., Chen, L., Morales, J. C. C., Dutra, N., Dzabatou, A., Dzokoto, V., Erut, A., Fong, F. T. K., Ghelardi, S., Goldwater, M., Ingram, G., Messer, E., Kingsford, J., Lew-Levy, S., Mendez, K., Newhouse, M., … Legare, C. H. (2023). Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children's academic achievement across diverse societies. Developmental Science, 00, e13434. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13434. *Joint first authors.

Cooperative signaling in the sandbox: Future directions for examining collective ritual in child development (PDF)

Clegg, J., Wen, N., & Legare, C.H. (2023). Cooperative signaling in the sandbox: Future directions for examining collective ritual in child development. Religion, Brain, & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2023.2214398

The cumulative quality of culture explains human uniqueness (PDF)

Legare, C.H. (2023). The cumulative quality of culture explains human uniqueness. Zygon. https://doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12904

 

Related Press

Press
The Problem That Psychology Can’t Shake

- The Atlantic
January 25, 2020

Psychology Still Skews Western and Affluent. Can It Be Fixed?

- Undark
January 20, 2020

Rituals in the Workplace

- #workbeautiful, Beautiful.ai
March 12, 2019