People

My research interests have always centered on bonobos.  Ever since I learned about them as an early undergraduate student, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life decoding the mysteries of their behaviors.  For my doctoral dissertation I examined dominance hierarchies, aggressive patterns, reconciliation, consolation, and conflict prevention in the framework of dominance style in a group of “mock fission-fusioned” bonobos at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Ohio.   My results indicated that although bonobos exhibit some egalitarian characteristics, in that they engage in peacemaking after a conflict, they may also be semi-despotic, as indicated by linear dominance hierarchies and lack of conflict prevention mechanisms.

For my current post-doctoral research, I am examining the various ways in which bonobos express empathy.  I am conducting my research on large group of sanctuary bonobos at Lola ya Bonobo, D.R. Congo. Empathy can be defined as the capacity to a) adopt, in whole or in part, the emotional state of another, b) express concern for another, or c) take another’s perspective. There is overwhelming evidence that part (a) of empathy is a general mammalian pattern but the more complex forms (parts b and c) may be far more limited (Preston & de Waal, 2002).  I am interested in examining the extent to which bonobos exhibit both simple and advanced forms of empathy through the expression of emotional contagion, the consolation of victims of aggression by third-parties, and the helping and aiding of distressed conspecifics.  In addition, I will determine whether traumatic life history in individuals correlates with increased or reduced expression of empathetic behaviors.