If you enjoyed our recent essay on names in the animal kingdom, you might be interested in this new paper! (by former guests @laurasimonelewis.bsky.social and @chriskrupenye.bsky.social, among others)

New article out exploring great ape name recognition! We find partial evidence that zoo-living chimps & bonobos know each other's names 👀 Huge thanks to Animal Behavior and Cognition (a great open-access journal) & co-authors for your collaboration!🎉🐵 unsvr1.com/web/abc/work...

Why do otherwise rational people disagree about the same evidence? Our new paper finds that group membership is a deeply rooted influence on how we form beliefs, leading even preschoolers to bias their evidential standards and form inaccurate beliefs. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hi friends! Tomorrow at 9 am PT/12 pm ET/6 pm CET I'll be presenting a Proceedings B Ecology and Evolution Seminar about my recently published paper: Chimpanzees and children are curious about social interactions 🥳 Tune in to learn more about comparative curiosity! cassyni.com/events/R9W1m...

Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3

New paper in Open Mind, with @emmayu23.bsky.social, Megan Richardson, and @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social! We find that by 6 years of age, children think that close friends know the content of each other’s minds. direct.mit.edu/opmi/article... @openmindjournal.bsky.social

New paper just dropped🎉 With novel "Curiosity Boxes", we find that chimps & children are very curious about social interactions, & some even give up a reward to gain info! Fun collaboration with @alisongopnik.bsky.social, @janengelmann.bsky.social & others royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

New paper from Laura Lewis and Jan Engelmann et al. (including me) with a clever new method. Chimps and kids will forgo reward to get a chance to look at social interactions royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

Chimpanzees are, just like humans, very curious about other's social relationships. In some cases, they even give up a material reward to watch social interactions. Check out this exciting new work by @laurasimonelewis.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

My book SHAMANISM: THE TIMELESS RELIGION will be out on May 20, 2025! Shamanism characterized the earliest religions, echoes in often unappreciated ways in the world around us, and will long outlive us. Pre-order it here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730339...