Katja Liebal (Universität Leipzig), “Comparative Approach to Human Cognition: Possibilities and Challenges”

Aiming to understand human psychology and what makes humans “unique” benefits from a frame of reference against which to assess it. Comparing human psychology with that of other animals, particularly our closest relatives, nonhuman primates, can provide such a frame of reference and thereby contribute to identifying the defining characteristics of the human species. Studying cognitive skills in nonhuman species, however, presents a variety of methodological and ethical challenges, which I will address in my talk. After introducing the rationale of a comparative approach and highlighting some “hot topics” in current research with primates, I will discuss some of the challenges of comparative research, such as the impact of anthropomorphism and speciesism, the difficulty of developing appropriate methods to study cognitive skills in non-linguistic species, and the ethical boundaries of conducting such research with highly endangered species.

This talk will take place in person at SCIoI and on Zoom.

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