Evan MacLean’s research investigates social cognition in dogs with a focus on how/and what dogs understand about humans as social partners.
These studies have two main goals: 1) to obtain a better understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying dogs’ social behavior, and 2) to apply findings to real world problems concerning dog-human interactions.
Previously Dr. MacLean worked on projects that focused on chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest living relatives. Much of this work addressed how (and whether) these species understand each others psychology in order to determine how human psychology has changed since we last shared a common ancestor with these species.
Dr. MacLean is presently working with Brian Hare at Duke University.
Lecture:
So You Think You Know Your Dog?
June 2012