Anya Parks
Background
Human Paleobiology Ph.D. Program
Year of Entry: Fall 2023
Advisor: Francys Subiaul
Emulation and imitation learning in dogs and children. Cultural and pre-cultural behavior transmission.
Anya has an interest in exploring the evolutionary foundations of social learning in group-living species, with special focus on dogs and humans. She is intrigued by the transmission of behaviors between and within social groups, and the cognitive foundations that facilitate such transmission. Hopes to understand the ecological factors that result in the evolution of such abilities over deep time. Seeks to apply work in dog training settings to support working dog and general dog populations, and as a way to make research accessible to the general public.
Ongoing Projects
- Natural pedagogical behaviors in humans and dogs. Is bounded exploration exclusive to humans?
- Social learning in dogs: evaluating the variants of social learning in dogs and identifying gaps in field knowledge.
- Social learning between dogs: Are dogs able to learn simple tricks faster by observing a familiar conspecific?
Duke University 2021