A Lecture in Psychology: Origins of Human Cooperation and Morality

Michael Tomasello, of the Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, discusses his article for the 2013 Annual Review of Psychology, titled "Origins of Human Cooperation and Morality." In this lecture, he shares footage of chimpanzees and of toddlers collaborating, showing that while cooperation exists among other primates, it is much more developed in our societies, even among very young humans. Children have a stronger sense of egalitarianism, and do a better job of suppressing their self-interest when they cooperate on a task. Not only that, they are capable of demonstrating norm-based group-mindedness, another form of collaboration.