EccePAN lab, UNIGE
PRESENTATION
The Ecology, Cognition, Communication, Emotion lab (eccePAN Lab) focusses on the evolution of the culture and communication to explain the unique characteristics that define humans as a species. Members of the laboratory use techniques and paradigms from comparative and developmental psychology, ethology and behavioral ecology, and neurosciences to investigate various research questions.
The first research question is concerned with understanding differences between human and chimpanzee cultures. To do so, we work in the forests of Western Uganda to describe the unknown cultures, particularly the tool-using abilities of wild Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). We use both observational and experimental methods where we modify the environment an animal encounters in its daily activities. We also investigate the vocal communication of wild chimpanzees, as well as another endemic species, the grey-cheeked mangabey.
Our second research question aims to investigate the ontogeny of learning processes in children, in comparison to other apes. To do so, we conduct cognitive experiments in various settings to understand the mechanisms of social learning. We compare our results with similar experiments conducted with non-human apes.
A final research question is concerned with emotional communication in humans and other great apes. We use experimental and neuroscientific non-invasive paradigms (e.g. fMRI, fNIRS) to understand the brain mechanisms that allow the processing of emotional auditory signals across species. We are particularly interested in the impact of affect on social transmission.
DIRECTOR
Prof. Thibaud Gruber received his PhD in Psychology in 2011 from the University of St Andrews, UK after undergraduate studies in Biology and a master in Cognitive Sciences. In 2018, he received his Habilitation from the ENS Paris in Cognitive Sciences.
He is a comparative psychologist with broad interests ranging from cognitive anthropology and developmental science to behavioural ecology. He uses different approaches in the field and the lab (observational, experimental, neuroscientific) to tackle the question of the evolution of culture and language in great apes, including humans. His ultimate goal is to understand how our early ancestors launched their cultures from a chimpanzee-like state on a path to what they are now.
In particular, he has investigated the cognitive, social and ecological underpinnings of tool use in wild Ugandan chimpanzees. During his PhD, he also developed a strong interest for the evolution of language by studying primate vocalizations. After joining the Cognitive Science Center at the University of Neuchâtel, he developed a human aspect to his work, investigating social learning processes in children.
In 2015, he joined the laboratory of Prof Didier Grandjean as a Scientific Collaborator on a project aiming at developing non-invasive neuroscientific tools to study vocal perception in non-human primates, which resulted in the establishment of a long-term collaboration with Dr Adrien Meguerditchian from the CNRS and complemented his study species with baboons.
In 2019, he was awarded an Eccellenza Professorial fellowship by the Swiss National Science Foundation, allowing him to establish the eccePAN lab at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. For this project, he is particularly interested in drivers of tool use, whether social or internal, and has started to investigate the physiological aspects of tool use.
Publications