Henrike Moll

Culture can take hold and evolve only in a certain kind of species: one whose members are cognitively equipped to share and adopt each other’s knowledge and ideas. Research in developmental psychology, primatology, and evolutionary anthropology suggests that humans are the only species of this kind. From very early in development, children show an awareness of the limits of their knowledge, turning eagerly to others to receive knowledge and placing trust especially in competent others (adults). In this project, I will trace the origins of humans’ tendency to seek knowledge from other people.

To this end, findings from three areas of research will be integrated. The first is developmental psychology: I will conduct both quantitative (experimental) and qualitative (observational) studies on children’s social orientation in learning contexts. The second source of insight is research in primatology and comparative psychology, which suggests that human children’s social orientation in learning is unparalleled in the animal world. The third area of inquiry to inform this project is social epistemology—a branch of philosophy that examines the social ways in which humans acquire their knowledge and explores why another’s word can be as or more valuable than the use of one’s own senses. In sum, the project will shed light on the human condition by examining the evolutionary and developmental origins of humans’ unique form of social learning.