Edwin van Leeuwen

My research interest lies in the domain of social relationships and behavioral flexibility of non-human primates. More specifically, within my phd project I aim to shed light on the motivational and situational factors that govern the trade-off between innovation and individual learning on the one side and selective monitoring and social learning on the other. Pivotal in these studies are the circumstances under which chimpanzees learn (socially), the conformist bias and the suggested conservative nature of their behavioral choices.

Under supervision of dr. Daniel Haun and dr. Katherine Cronin, I will be conducting most of my research in a chimpanzee sanctuary in Zambia: Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust. The set up of this sanctuary allows for crucial hypothesis testing regarding potential cultural processes in non-human primates: four stable groups of mixed genetic backgrounds in similar ecological environments. Moreover, the semi-wild conditions in CWOT will yield an understanding of chimpanzee behavior with a high degree of ecological validity.