Our research is focused on learning about and understanding the cognitive abilities, and particularly the cognitive control, exhibited by humans (children and adults) and other species, primarily the great apes and monkey species. This work is conducted largely at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, but we also work with species at other locations such as the National Zoo in Washington, DC and at Zoo Atlanta. In addition, we work with children in local day care centers, and also in collaboration with the SUCCESS Lab. We also work closely with others in the GSU Child Research Group (website, Facebook, Instagram).

Our research is supported by funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grants RO1HD-061455, PO1HD-060563, and PO1HD-38051), the National Science Foundation (grants BCS – 2043667, BCS – 2116968, BCS – 1552405, BCS – 0924811, BCS 0956993, BCS–0634662, SES-0729244, SES-1123897, SES-1425216), the European Science Foundation, the Templeton Foundation, and the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University.

 

 

 

 

 

Our research philosophy in the COMIC lab might best be summarized by the following quote from Edward Tolman in 1959:

“Since all the sciences, and especially psychology, are still immersed in such tremendous realms of the uncertain and the unknown, the best that any individual scientist, especially any psychologist, can do seems to be to follow his [or her!] own gleam and his [or her!] own bent, however inadequate they may be. In fact, I suppose that actually this is what we all do. In the end, the only sure criterion is to have fun.”

For an excellent news story about the Language Research Center, and its founder Dr. Duane Rumbaugh, go here.