Robert Seyfarth

Professor

Education:

BA, Biological Anthropology, Harvard University; Ph.D. Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge

Department:

Psychology

Address:

Solomon Labs, 3720 Walnut St., Room D7

Phone:

215-898-9349

Email:

seyfarth@psych.upenn.edu

Lab Page

Research Themes:

Animal Learning and Behavior

Evolutionary Psychology

Language and Communication

Specific Research Areas:

Social behavior, vocal communication, and cognition of nonhuman primates in their natural habitat

Research Synopsis:

Research focuses on the social behavior, vocal communication, and cognition of nonhuman primates in their natural habitat. Methods include observational sampling, tape-recording of vocalizations, playback experiments, and the collection of hormonal and genetic data from fecal samples. Our goals are to clarify the differences between nonhuman primate communication and human language, and to explore the adaptive value of primate social relationships as well as the cognitive mechanisms that underlie them. Species and research sites that are currently the focus of research by graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and me include baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana; rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico; elephants in Sri Lanka; and geladas in Ethiopia.

Representative Courses:

PSYC 131 Animal Behavior
PSYC 451 Primate Communication

Advisees:

Andrew Gersick [Psychology Graduate Student]
Noah Snyder-Mackler [Psychology Graduate Student]

Appointments:

Psychology Graduate Group; Anthropology Graduate Group

Publications:

Cheney, D.L. & Seyfarth, R.M. (2007) Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Silk, J.B., Beehner, J.C. Bergman, T. Crockford, C., Engh, A.L., Moscovice, L., Wittig, R.M., Seyfarth, R.M. & Cheney, D.L. (2009) The benefits of social capital: Close social bonds among female baboons enhance offspring survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 276, 3099-3104.

Crockford, C., Whttig, R.M., Whitten, P.L., Seyfarth, R.M. & Cheney, D.L. (2008) Social stresors and coping mechanisms in wild female baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus). Hormones and Behavior 53, 254-265.

Wittig, R., Crockford, C., Lehman, J., Whiten, P.L., Seyfarth, R.M. & Cheney, D.L. (2008) Focused grooming networks and stress alleviation in wild female baboons. Hormones and Behavior 54, 170-177.

Engh, A.E., Beehner, J.C., Bergman, T.J., Whitten, P.L., Hoffmeier, R.R., Seyfarth, R.M. & Cheney, D.L. (2006) Behavioural and hormonal responses to predation in female chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 273, 707-712.

Bergman, T., Beehner, J., Cheney, D.L. & Seyfarth, R.M. (2003) Hierarchical classification by rank and kinship in baboons. Science 302, 1234-1236.

Seyfarth, R.M. & Cheney, D.L. (2003) Signalers and receivers in animal communication. Annual Review of Psychology 54, 145-173.