The Laboratory of Comparative Ethology carries out a program of basic biobehavioral research that investigates cognitive, social-emotional, and biological development in humans and nonhuman primates. The laboratory studies both genetic and environmental factors and their multiple interactions from a comparative perspective in order to characterize the developmental trajectories of individuals across a broad range of species, populations, and settings. Field and laboratory-based studies of biobehavioral development in nonhuman primates are designed specifically to facilitate comparisons with findings from long-term prospective investigations of human infants and their families as well as with data obtained by neuroscience techniques, thereby promoting translational analyses. Most studies employ longitudinal designs in order to address basic issues of continuity versus change and the relative stability of individual differences throughout development. Many investigations concomitantly collect a variety of both behavioral and biological measures reflecting multiple levels of analysis, thus making possible the examination of patterns of covariance among measures both within and between levels of analysis. To identify particularly recurrent or unusual patterns and evaluate their consequences with respect to established norms, the laboratory places major emphasis on characterizing and understanding normative patterns of development.

Stephen Suomi and his colleagues investigate biological and behavioral development in selected nonhuman primate species, focusing on interactions between genetic and environmental factors that affect the course of individual developmental trajectories throughout the life span. John Newman uses neuroscience techniques to study brain mechanisms involved in the production of various types of primate vocalizations, to examine subtle acoustical differences in these characteristic calls, and to investigate their function in several primate species. Marc Bornstein’s group examines cognitive, language, and social-emotional development in human infants and children, with special emphasis on the relationships among early attentional processes, social stimulation from and interactions with care givers, and subsequent cognitive and social behavioral capabilities. Michael Lamb heads a team that studies the effects of different types of care-giving practices on human infant and toddler social and emotional development and cognitive competence, with particular emphasis on process-oriented studies of interactional styles, memories, and social perceptions and longitudinal approaches that transcend infancy, childhood, and adolescence.