Dr. Erica van de Waal is Professor of Primatology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She is also Director of the Inkawu Vervet Project, at the Mawana Game Reserve, in South Africa, an experimental field site with a study population of over 200 wild vervet monkeys, and a Branco Weiss Fellow of the Society in Science at the University of Zurich. She is interested in the evolution of primate social behaviors with a main focus on cultural transmission and cognition.

In this episode, we talk about the evolutionary/biological bases of culture in primate species. First, we define culture, and also talk about the cognitive tools that primate species need to develop culture, with a few examples of species that have it. We also refer to the ways we can compare humans to other primates in terms of social cognition and cultural behavior. We also touch on theory of mind, and if it’s really necessary to have it to imitate the behavior of others. We then discuss if there are primates, apart from humans, that show teaching behavior and how they communicate. Finally, we go through the parts of the cognition of vervet monkeys that Dr. van de Wall studies, including how their philopatric behavior (philopatry refers to the behavior of staying in the group that individuals are born in, instead of migrating to other groups. That can be done by males or females, and thus we can have male or female philopatry) influences how their culture is developed and transmitted.

Time Links:

00:51 What is culture?

03:29 Culture as a social phenomenon

07:09 The types of information primates pay attention to

14:50 Primate species that exhibit cultural behavior

17:42 How to compare humans to other primates

21:25 Do other primates have theory of mind? And do they need it to imitate others?

26:27 Do other primates have teaching behavior?

31:24 The importance of communication and language

35:52 Dr. van de Waal’s work with vervet monkeys

39:22 The trouble with studying primates in the wild vs studying them in the lab

43:42 How philopatry might affect how culture gets acquired and transmitted