Pudding Seminar: Dr Alecia Carter

Alecia Carter, ‘Why don’t baboons have culture? Information transmission in a wild primate’.

The formation of culture in animal societies, including humans, relies on
the social transmission of information among individuals in a group. While
the cognitive capacities for social transmission of information appear to
be present in a wide range of animal species, culture has only been
described for handful of species. Whether or not a novel behaviour becomes
adopted by an entire group to form a culture may depend on how individuals
acquire and use social information. I attempt to establish traditions in
wild baboon groups to understand how individual differences in the (i)
opportunities to acquire social information and (ii) propensities to use
such information may limit the formation of culture.

All Senior Members, Students, and Staff are warmly invited to attend the
Pudding Seminars, which feature coffee, cake, and lively discussion!
To allow people to get to 2pm appointments, please note that coffee and
cake will be available from 1 o’clock with the Seminar starting promptly at 1.15 pm.