I am a Professor in the Division of Psychology. I carry out research on human and animal learning and cognition, and I have particular interests in social learning and cultural evolution.
I have been working here at Stirling since 2004. Prior to this, I studied at the University of Edinburgh for my first degree (BSc Psychology), then Manchester for a Masters (MSc Cognitive Science), and got my PhD at St Andrews, studying social learning in nonhuman primates.
My research combines methods and techniques from experimental psychology with theoretical frameworks from the field of cultural evolution. My past research has included developing experimental methods for testing hypotheses about human cumulative cultural evolution. In particular I am interested in the distinctiveness of human culture, and the distinctiveness of human cognition, and how these impact upon one another. To address these questions, I carry out research with a wide range of different study populations, including human adults and children, and nonhuman primates.
Potential PhD students interested in these topics are encouraged to get in touch in order to discuss potential projects. Some specific examples of potential projects include:
Children's understanding of source in social information use. It is well known that children are adept social learners from a young age. However, at what age do they know not just the socially learned information itself, but also the fact that they learned it that way? And does this affect how effectively they are able to apply what they learn?
Imitative abilities across the lifespan. Children's ability to imitate improves as they get older, but we know much less about how imitative abilities change in older adults. Do we find imitation more difficult as executive function becomes impaired? How do any difficulties experienced by older adults compare with those of young children? And what might this tell us about the cognition involved in copying others?
Effects of cultural population size on the cultural evolution of different types of traits. Conflicting conclusions have been found regarding the relationship between population size and cumulative cultural evolution, in both real world and experimental studies. Is this partly dependent on characteristics of the cultural traits being transmitted? Experimental research could manipulate trait properties to investigate the impact on the effects of population structure variables.
Previous Funded Research Projects:
ERC Consolidator Research Grant (No. 648841 RATCHETCOG), The cog in the ratchet: illuminating the cognitive mechanisms generating human cumulative culture, Sept2015-Feb2021, £1,370,000 (Principal Investigator Christine Caldwell).
ESRC Research Grant (RES-062-23-1634), An experimental approach to studying cultural variation and convergence, March2009-Feb2011, £315,446 (Principal Investigator Christine Caldwell).
ESRC "First Grants" Award (RES-061-23-0072), Testing hypotheses about cumulative cultural evolution, Oct2006-Sept2008, £143,161 (Principal Investigator Christine Caldwell).
Plenary speaker, 2017, CES Jena, 14 September
Inaugural meeting of the Cultural Evolution Society
Plenary speaker, 2019, ACBS Dublin, 28 June
17th World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science
Plenary speaker, 2019, ISHE Croatia, 22 July
7th Summer Institute of the International Society for Human Ethology
Plenary speaker, 2019, PTNCE Prague, 27 September
6th Conference of the Polish Society for Human and Evolution Studies
Plenary speaker, 2025, ISHE Newcastle, 17 April
European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association
Annual Conference
Advisory Board Member for the Cultural Evolution Society Transformational Fund Grants Scheme
Research Assessor, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
Evaluating A Novel Online Test Instrument For Measuring Theory Of Mind In Adulthood
PI: Professor Christine Anna Caldwell
Funded by: The British Academy
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The Cog in the Ratchet: Illuminating the Cognitive Mechanisms Generating Human Cumulative Culture
PI: Professor Christine Anna Caldwell
Funded by: European Commission (Horizon 2020)
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The Cognitive requirements of cumulative culture: experiments with typically developing and autistic people
PI: Professor Christine Anna Caldwell
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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An experimental approach to studying cultural variation and convergence
PI: Professor Christine Anna Caldwell
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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Testing Hypotheses About Cumulative Cultural Evolution
PI: Professor Christine Anna Caldwell
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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Book Chapter
What Is Cumulative Cultural Evolution?
Caldwell CA (2023) What Is Cumulative Cultural Evolution?. In: The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198869252.013.13
Article
Kean D, Renner E, Atkinson M & Caldwell CA (2023) Capuchin monkeys learn to use information equally well from individual exploration and social demonstration. Animal Cognition, 26 (2), pp. 435-450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01654-0
Book Chapter
O'Sullivan E & Caldwell CA (2022) Imitation. In: Vonk J & Shackelford T (eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. http://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783319550640
Article
Blakey KH, Renner E, Atkinson M, Rafetseder E & Caldwell CA (2022) Children transition from simple associations to explicitly reasoned social learning strategies between age four and eight. Scientific Reports, 12 (1), Art. No.: 5045. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09092-1
Article
Wilks CEH, Atkinson M & Caldwell CA (2022) Children's use of social information from multiple models: Cognitive capacities underlying population size effects on cumulative culture. Culture and Evolution. https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2055/aop/article-10.1556-2055.2021.00005/article-10.1556-2055.2021.00005.xml; https://doi.org/10.1556/2055.2021.00005
Article
Dunstone J, Atkinson M, Renner E & Caldwell CA (2022) Restricted Access to Working Memory Does Not Prevent Cumulative Score Improvement in a Cultural Evolution Task. Entropy, 24 (3), Art. No.: 325. https://doi.org/10.3390/e24030325
Article
Blakey KH, Atkinson M, Rafetseder E, Renner E & Caldwell CA (2022) Taking account of others' goals in social information use: Developmental changes in 3- to 7-year-old children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 215, Art. No.: 105325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105325
Article
Dunstone J, Atkinson M, Grainger C, Renner E & Caldwell CA (2021) Limited evidence for executive function load impairing selective copying in a win-stay lose-shift task. PLOS ONE, 16 (3), Art. No.: e0247183. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247183
Article
Renner E, Kean D, Atkinson M & Caldwell CA (2021) The use of individual, social, and animated cue information by capuchin monkeys and children in a touchscreen task. Scientific Reports, 11 (1), Art. No.: 1043. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80221-4
Article
Renner E, Somai RS, Van der Stigchel S, Campbell C, Kean D & Caldwell CA (2021) Adaptation of the Missing Scan Task to a touchscreen format for assessing working memory capacity in children. Infant and Child Development, 30 (6), Art. No.: e2277. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2277
Article
Development of strategic social information seeking: Implications for cumulative culture
Blakey KH, Rafetseder E, Atkinson M, Renner E, Cowan-Forsythe F, Sati SJ & Caldwell CA (2021) Development of strategic social information seeking: Implications for cumulative culture. PLOS ONE, 16 (8), Art. No.: e0256605. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256605
Review
Singh M, Acerbi A, Caldwell CA, Danchin E, Isabel G, Molleman L, Scott-Phillips T, Tamariz M, van den Berg P, van Leeuwen E & Derex M (2021) Beyond social learning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376 (1828), Art. No.: 20200050. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0050
Article
Atkinson M, Renner E, Thompson B, Mackintosh G, Xie D, Su Y & Caldwell CA (2021) Robust, source-independent biases in children's use of socially and individually acquired information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150 (4), pp. 778-791. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000959
Article
Wilks CEH, Rafetseder E, Renner E, Atkinson M & Caldwell CA (2021) Cognitive Prerequisites for Cumulative Culture are Context-Dependent: Children's Potential for Ratcheting Depends on Cue Longevity. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 204, Art. No.: 105031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105031
Commentary
Thornton A, Happé F & Caldwell CA (2020) Supporting the weight of the elephant in the room: Technical intelligence propped up by social cognition and language. Commentary on: Osiurak, F., & Reynaud, E. (2020). The elephant in the room: What matters cognitively in cumulative technological culture. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 43, E156. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19003236. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 43, Art. No.: e179. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x20000114
Article
The value of teaching increases with tool complexity in cumulative cultural evolution
Lucas AJ, Kings M, Whittle D, Davey E, Happé F, Caldwell CA & Thornton A (2020) The value of teaching increases with tool complexity in cumulative cultural evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287 (1939), Art. No.: 20201885. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1885
Article
Atkinson M, Blakey K & Caldwell C (2020) Inferring behavior from partial social information plays little or no role in the cultural transmission of adaptive traits. Cognitive Science, 44 (10), Art. No.: e12903. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12903
Article
Caldwell CA (2020) Using experimental research designs to explore the scope of cumulative culture in humans and other animals. Topics in Cognitive Science, 12 (2), pp. 673-689. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12391
Article
The role of context in "over-imitation": Evidence of movement-based goal inference in young children
March J, Rigby Dames B, Caldwell C, Doherty M & Rafetseder E (2020) The role of context in "over-imitation": Evidence of movement-based goal inference in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 190, Art. No.: 104713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104713
Article
Experimental assessment of capacities for cumulative culture: Review and evaluation of methods
Caldwell CA, Atkinson M, Blakey KH, Dunstone J, Kean D, Mackintosh G, Renner E & Wilks CEH (2020) Experimental assessment of capacities for cumulative culture: Review and evaluation of methods. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 11 (1), Art. No.: e1516. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1516
Article
Renner E, Atkinson M & Caldwell CA (2019) Squirrel monkey responses to information from social demonstration and individual exploration using touchscreen and object choice tasks. PeerJ, 7, p. e7960. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7960
Letter
Fay N, De Kleine N, Walker B & Caldwell CA (2019) Reply to Martens: Various factors may enable large populations to enhance cumulative cultural evolution, but more evidence is needed. Refers to: J. P. Martens, Scenarios where increased population size can enhance cumulative cultural evolution are likely common. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 17160 (2019). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116 (35), pp. 17161-17162. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911176116
Article
Increasing population size can inhibit cumulative cultural evolution
Fay N, De Kleine N, Walker B & Caldwell CA (2019) Increasing population size can inhibit cumulative cultural evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (14), pp. 6726-6731. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811413116
Article
Human teaching and cumulative cultural evolution
Caldwell CA, Renner E & Atkinson M (2018) Human teaching and cumulative cultural evolution. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 9 (4), pp. 751-770. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-017-0346-3
Article
Cumulative culture and explicit metacognition: a review of theories, evidence and key predictions
Dunstone J & Caldwell CA (2018) Cumulative culture and explicit metacognition: a review of theories, evidence and key predictions. Palgrave Communications, 4 (1), Art. No.: 145. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0200-y
Article
Celebrating the continued importance of "Machiavellian Intelligence" 30 years on
Hopper LM, van de Waal E & Caldwell CA (2018) Celebrating the continued importance of "Machiavellian Intelligence" 30 years on. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 132, pp. 427-431. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000157
Article
Automatic imitation effects are influenced by experience of synchronous action in children
O'Sullivan EP, Bijvoet-van den Berg S & Caldwell CA (2018) Automatic imitation effects are influenced by experience of synchronous action in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 171, pp. 113-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.013
Commentary
Infant orofacial movements: Inputs, if not outputs, of early imitative ability?
O'Sullivan E & Caldwell CA (2017) Infant orofacial movements: Inputs, if not outputs, of early imitative ability?. Commentary on: Keven, N., & Akins, K. (2017). Neonatal imitation in context: Sensorimotor development in the perinatal period. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40. doi:10.1017/S0140525X16000911. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, Art. No.: e398. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X16001953
Article
O'Sullivan EP, Claidière N & Caldwell CA (2017) Action-matching biases in monkeys (Sapajus spp.) in a stimulus-response compatibility task: Evaluating experience-dependent malleability. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 131 (4), pp. 337-347. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000081
Article
Little Scientists – Big Impact
Caes L, Caldwell CA, Rafetseder E, Grainger C, Renner E, Atkinson M, Shing YL & Kuipers JR (2017) Little Scientists – Big Impact [The Developmental Research Team at the University of Stirling explain why they love their psychology kindergarten]. The Psychologist, 30, pp. 30-33. https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-30/october/little-scientists-big-impact
Article
Experimental approaches to studying cumulative cultural evolution
Caldwell CA, Atkinson M & Renner E (2016) Experimental approaches to studying cumulative cultural evolution. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25 (3), pp. 191-195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416641049
Article
Cultural diffusion in humans and other animals
Whiten A, Caldwell CA & Mesoudi A (2016) Cultural diffusion in humans and other animals. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, pp. 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.002
Article
Elephant resource-use traditions
Fishlock V, Caldwell CA & Lee PC (2016) Elephant resource-use traditions. Animal Cognition, 19 (2), pp. 429-433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-015-0921-x
Article
Caldwell CA, Cornish H & Kandler A (2016) Identifying innovation in laboratory studies of cultural evolution: rates of retention and measures of adaptation. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, 371 (1690), Art. No.: 20150193. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0193
Book Chapter
Caldwell CA (2015) Experimental Studies of Cumulative Culture in Modern Humans: What Are the Requirements of the Ratchet?. In: Mesoudi A & Aoki K (eds.) Learning Strategies and Cultural Evolution during the Palaeolithic. Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans Series. Tokyo: Springer, pp. 145-154. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-4-431-55363-2_10
Article
Call playback artificially generates a temporary cultural style of high affiliation in marmosets
Watson CFI, Buchanan-Smith HM & Caldwell CA (2014) Call playback artificially generates a temporary cultural style of high affiliation in marmosets. Animal Behaviour, 93, pp. 163-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.027
Article
Caldwell CA & Eve R (2014) Persistence of contrasting traditions in cultural evolution: Unpredictable payoffs generate slower rates of cultural change. PLoS ONE, 9 (6), Art. No.: e99708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099708
Article
Matthews C, Roberts AG & Caldwell CA (2012) Opportunity to assimilate and pressure to discriminate can generate cultural divergence in the laboratory. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33 (6), pp. 759-770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.06.004
Article
Caldwell CA & Smith K (2012) Cultural Evolution and Perpetuation of Arbitrary Communicative Conventions in Experimental Microsocieties. PLoS ONE, 7 (8), p. e43807. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0043807; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0043807
Article
Caldwell CA, Schillinger K, Evans C & Hopper L (2012) End State Copying by Humans (Homo sapiens): Implications for a Comparative Perspective on Cumulative Culture. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 126 (2), pp. 161-169. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026828
Article
Effects of Partner Beauty on Opposite-Sex Attractiveness Judgments
Little A, Caldwell CA, Jones BC & DeBruine LM (2011) Effects of Partner Beauty on Opposite-Sex Attractiveness Judgments. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40 (6), pp. 1119-1127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9806-5
Article
Little A, Jones BC, DeBruine LM & Caldwell CA (2011) Social learning and human mate preferences: a potential mechanism for generating and maintaining between-population diversity in attraction. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, 366 (1563), pp. 366-375. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0192
Article
Human Cumulative Culture in the Laboratory: Effects of (Micro) Population Size
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2010) Human Cumulative Culture in the Laboratory: Effects of (Micro) Population Size. Learning and Behavior, 38 (3), pp. 310-318. https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.38.3.310
Article
Watson CFI & Caldwell CA (2010) Neighbor effects in marmosets: Social contagion of agonism and affiliation in captive Callithrix jacchus. American Journal of Primatology, 72 (6), pp. 549-558. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20805
Book Chapter
Social learning in monkeys and apes: cultural animals?
Caldwell CA & Whiten A (2010) Social learning in monkeys and apes: cultural animals?. In: Campbell C, Fuentes A, MacKinnon K, Bearder S & Stumpf R (eds.) Primates in Perspective. 2nd ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press USA, pp. 652-662. http://global.oup.com/academic/product/primates-in-perspective-9780195390438;jsessionid=5E62E77E17EDDEDEE214F0C0F59B0FB1?cc=gb〈=en&
Article
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2010) Conservatism in Laboratory Microsocieties: Unpredictable Payoffs Accentuate Group-Specific Traditions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31 (2), pp. 123-130. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.08.002
Article
Comparative cultural cognition
Price EE, Caldwell CA & Whiten A (2010) Comparative cultural cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 1 (1), pp. 23-31. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.14
Article
Social learning mechanisms and cumulative cultural evolution: is imitation necessary?
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2009) Social learning mechanisms and cumulative cultural evolution: is imitation necessary?. Psychological Science, 20 (12), pp. 1478-1483. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02469.x
Article
Watson CFI & Caldwell CA (2009) Understanding behavioral traditions in primates: Are current experimental approaches too focused on food?. International Journal of Primatology, 30 (1), pp. 143-167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-009-9334-5
Article
Exploiting flavour preferences of common marmosets to increase palatability of a dry pellet diet
Caldwell CA, Watson CFI & Morris K (2009) Exploiting flavour preferences of common marmosets to increase palatability of a dry pellet diet. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 116 (41001), pp. 244-249. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01681591; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2008.09.001
Commentary
Convergent cultural evolution may explain linguistic universals
Caldwell CA (2008) Convergent cultural evolution may explain linguistic universals. Commentary on: MH Christiansen and N Chater, 'Language as shaped by the brain', Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2008) 31, pp.489-509. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31 (5), pp. 515-516. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X08005050
Book Chapter
Experimental approaches to the study of culture in primates
Caldwell CA (2008) Experimental approaches to the study of culture in primates. In: Roska-Hardy LS & Neumann-Held EM (eds.) Learning from Animals?: Examining the Nature of Human Uniqueness. Hove, East Sussex: Taylor & Francis (Psychology Press UK), pp. 173-187. http://www.psypress.com/9781841697079
Article
Studying cumulative cultural evolution in the laboratory
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2008) Studying cumulative cultural evolution in the laboratory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363 (1509), pp. 3529-3539. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0133
Article
Experimental models for testing hypotheses about cumulative cultural evolution
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2008) Experimental models for testing hypotheses about cumulative cultural evolution. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29 (3), pp. 165-171. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.12.001
Article
Little A, Burriss R, Jones BC, DeBruine LM & Caldwell CA (2008) Social influence in human face preference: men and women are influenced more for long-term than short-term attractiveness decisions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29 (2), pp. 140-146. http://www.ehbonline.org/home; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.11.007
Article
Price EE & Caldwell CA (2007) Artificially generated cultural variation between two groups of captive colobus monkeys, Colobus guereza kikuyuensis. Behavioural Processes, 74 (1), pp. 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2006.09.003
Article
Leaver LA, Hopewell L, Caldwell CA & Mallarky L (2007) Audience effects on food caching in grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis): evidence for pilferage avoidance strategies. Animal Cognition, 10 (1), pp. 23-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-0026-7
Article
Dog paw preference shows lability and sex differences
Poyser F, Caldwell CA & Cobb M (2006) Dog paw preference shows lability and sex differences. Behavioural Processes, 73 (2), pp. 216-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2006.05.011
Book Chapter
Social learning in monkeys and apes: Cultural animals?
Caldwell CA & Whiten A (2006) Social learning in monkeys and apes: Cultural animals?. In: Campbell C, Fuentes A, MacKinnon K, Panger M & Bearder S (eds.) Primates in Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 652-662.
Article
Horton KE & Caldwell CA (2006) Visual co-orientation and expectations about attentional orientation in pileated gibbons (Hylobates pileatus). Behavioural Processes, 72 (1), pp. 65-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2005.12.004
Article
Caldwell CA & Whiten A (2004) Testing for social learning and imitation in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, using an artificial fruit. Animal Cognition, 7 (2), pp. 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-003-0192-9
Article
Scrounging facilitates social learning in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus
Caldwell CA & Whiten A (2003) Scrounging facilitates social learning in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus. Animal Behaviour, 65 (6), pp. 1085-1092. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2003.2145
Article
Evolutionary perspectives on imitation: is a comparative psychology of social learning possible?
Caldwell CA & Whiten A (2002) Evolutionary perspectives on imitation: is a comparative psychology of social learning possible?. Animal Cognition, 5 (4), pp. 193-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-002-0151-x
