Primate Cognition - Leibniz ScienceCampus Göttingen

Both humans and nonhuman primates live in complex and multi-layered environments. Advanced cognitive capacities are required to encode and process different and diverse sources of information, bring them together in decision-making processes and translate them into action. Beyond that, human and nonhuman primates must also perceive the relationship between their behaviour and the resulting consequences.

The aim of the Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition" in Göttingen is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms involved in information processing and decision-making in nonhuman primates and humans. Research is focused on questions such as: how is information from various sources integrated, how are actions controlled, and how is this influenced by social interactions? A comparative approach is used to assess how nonhuman primates and humans differ in their communicative and cognitive abilities.

In the ScienceCampus the expertise of behavioural biologists, psychologists, neuroscientists and cognitive scientists is brought together. Through close collaboration with the humanities, the philosophical and ethical consequences of the research are also taken into consideration.