Teasing can involve positive emotions and outcomes as well as negative ones. We explore the ways in which “playful teasing” is used by children and apes and what it reveals about their understanding of others’ minds.

With Eckert, Hobaiter, Laumer, Rossano, Winkler

Gesture is a robust part of human language. But why do we do it? Does gesture help us communicate, learn, or remember? We conduct observational and experimental studies to understand how gesture is used to communicate and problem-solve.

With Hobaiter, A. Smith, I. Zhang

Together with collaborators in the US, UK, and New Zealand, we are conducting observational and experimental studies of the manifestations and cognitive effects of positive affect in apes, dolphins, and kea (parrots) grounded in phenomenology (the philosophical study of experience).

With Allen, Hobaiter, Janik, Lyn, Nelson, Taylor

Do apes and children understand what it means to be surprised? Do they predict surprise in others? Together with collaborators at Harvard, MPI, and Johns Hopkins, we are conducting eye-tracking studies with apes and children to address these questions.

With Eckert, Krupenye, Laumer, Lewis, Waters, Winkler

Is it possible that the capacity for language evolved first in manual communication? Great apes use gesture to communicate in sophisticated ways. We explore the ways in which ape gestures possess linguistic features in order to understand the degree to which the origin of language may have been gestural.

With Hobaiter

Language is perhaps the most complicated thing children learn, and yet they do so with little effort. However, the speed at which children become fluent speakers differs. We explore what factors in the early language learning environment help children learn their first words and “break into” language.

With Ahn, Ghazaryan, A. Smith, E. Zhang