[CS] 2/17 Public Talk, Noon, ASH 111

[Jean Fournier]

Public Talk
Jeffrey Stevens
Candidate for Assistant Professor of Evolution & Cognition

Friday, February 17th, Noon, ASH 111

Rational minds: context-dependent decision making in animals

Although classical economics predicts rational behavior in human 
decision making, psychologists and behavioral economists have described 
countless examples of seemingly irrational decision making in humans. 
Numerous non-human animal species demonstrate similar patterns of 
choice, suggesting deep evolutionary roots to this putative irrational 
decision making. I explore how cognitive constraints and ecological 
pressures can influence cooperative behavior and temporal discounting in 
birds and primates. This research indicates that an evolutionary 
perspective that includes cognitive constraints may provide a more 
appropriate theoretical framework for animal decision making than 
current economic theory.

Jeffrey Stevens received his B.S. from Baylor University in Biology and 
Environmental Studies. He then completed his Ph.D. working with Dave 
Stephens at the University of Minnesota in Ecology, Evolution, and 
Behavior. His dissertation examined the behavioral ecology of food 
sharing and cooperation in blue jays, squirrel monkeys, and chimpanzees. 
Jeff recently wrapped up an NIH post-doctoral fellowship working at Marc 
Hauser’s Cognitive Evolution Laboratory in the Psychology Department at 
Harvard University. There he explored the role of context on temporal 
discounting in two species of monkeys: tamarins and marmosets. He is 
currently an instructor at Harvard teaching a new course entitled 
Psychology and Economic Decision Making.

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Jean Fournier
Administrative Assistant 
School of Cognitive Science
Hampshire College
Adele Simmons Hall
Amherst, MA 01002
413-559-5502
413-559-5438 fax