SoS 208: Prof. Lew-Levy explains the evolutionary relevance of peer learning in children

Listeners, please welcome Dr. Sheina Lew-Levy to the show! In this episode Prof. Lew-Levy discusses the importance of social learning among children to the study of evolution. Stick around for some gardening tips! Find the publication discussed in today’s episode via these citations: Pretelli, Ilaria, Alyssa N. Crittenden, Edmond Dounias, Sagan Friant, Jeremy Koster, Karen L. Kramer, Shani M. Mangola, Almudena Mari Saez, and Sheina Lew‐Levy. "Child and adolescent foraging: New directions in evolutionary research." Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews (2023): e22020. Lew‐Levy, Sheina, Wouter van den Bos, Kathleen Corriveau, Natália Dutra, Emma Flynn, Eoin O'Sullivan, Sarah Pope‐Caldwell et al. "Peer learning and cultural evolution." Child Development Perspectives (2023). ------------------------------------------------------------ Using methods from anthropology and psychology, Prof. Lew-Levy conducts research in hunter-gatherer societies to understand the cultural diversity in, and evolution of, social learning in childhood. Specifically, Prof. Lew-Levy uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study how and from whom children learn through meaningful participation in every day activities. With Forager Child Studies, her interdisciplinary research team conducts cross-cultural reviews and secondary data analysis on the pasts, presents, and futures of forager children's learning. Since 2016, Prof. Lew-Levy has worked with egalitarian BaYaka foragers and their farmer neighbours in the Congo Basin. Her primary research uses behavioural observations to understand social learning. She can be contacted via e-mail: sheina.lew-levy at durham.ac.uk ----------------------------------------------------------- Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation Website: humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn at ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Eric Griffith, HBA Junior Fellow, SoS producer E-mail: eric.griffith at duke.edu