News & Announcements
Subiaul Social Cognition Lab received award to explore social learning in infants and monkeys using eye-tracking technology.
The Subiaul Social Cognition Laboratory in the George Washington University was recently awarded an EAGER grant, Gaze Click: A new means of assessing cognitive competence in non-verbal populations (BCS-0946376) [$199,873]. This project seeks to develop a new paradigm for the purposes of studying pre-verbal and non-verbal populations. Specifically, studies will compare the individual- and observational-learning abilities of pre-verbal human infants and non-verbal monkeys using an entirely new experimental paradigm that combines eye-tracking and “gaze-click” technology. Gaze click effectively allows non-verbal participants (i.e., infants and monkeys) to make responses on a computerized task using either eye blinks or gaze fixation that are equivalent to a mouse click or physical response. The development of an experimental paradigm that allows pre-verbal and non-verbal populations to make a declarative, rather than a passive, implicit, or reflexive response, may dramatically alter our understanding of both the development and evolution of a cornerstone of human cognition, imitation.
The broader impact of this project is three-fold. First, studies will lead to unique educational and research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. Second, research comparing individual, observational and imitation learning in human infants and monkeys has the potential to transform our understanding of the development and evolution of social learning in these populations. Finally, results from these studies have the potential to transform comparative and developmental research as it allows investigators to ask more questions of non-verbal populations in greater detail using more objective measures; proving scientists and educators with unique insights into how such minds learn, think and acquire knowledge from others.
Press & Media
Some of our work has been featured in national and international press outlets.
Zoogoer magazine has just published a report on Dr. Subiaul and his research activities in the National Zoo.
Our study in Animal Cognition on chimpanzee's ability to learn from others appeared in the following news magazines: Science Daily News, Medical News Today, Biology News, and the Times of India
Our work on cognitive imitation in monkeys has appeared in a number of news outlets including: Science Now.
A profile on Dr. Subiaul by The George Washington University Magazine ByGeorge: http://www.gwu.edu/~newsctr/newscenter/research/subiaul/index.cfm
Laboratory Newsletter
The first issue of the lab newsletter includes a message from the director to parents, results from studies conducted in our lab as well as descriptions for on-going and future projects.
