Stephen Suomi, PhD, Chief

The Laboratory of Comparative Ethology (LCE) carries out a program of basic biobehavioral research investigating cognitive, social-emotional, and biological development in nonhuman primates and humans. The laboratory studies both genetic and environmental factors and their several interactions from a comparative perspective in order to characterize the developmental trajectories of individuals across a broad range of species, populations, and settings. Laboratory-based and field studies of biobehavioral development in nonhuman primates are designed to facilitate comparisons with findings from long-term prospective investigations of human infants and their families as well as with data obtained by neuroscience techniques, thereby promoting translational analyses. Most studies rely on longitudinal designs in order to address basic issues of continuity versus change and the relative stability of individual differences throughout development; many investigations collect a variety of behavioral and biological measures in order to examine patterns of covariance among measures both within and between levels of analysis. The laboratory places major emphasis on characterizing and understanding normative patterns of development in order to identify particularly recurrent or unusual patterns and evaluate their consequences with respect to established norms.

Stephen Suomi and his colleagues in the Comparative Behavioral Genetics Section investigate biological and behavioral development in selected nonhuman primate species, with a special focus on studying interactions between genetic and environmental factors that affect the course of individual developmental trajectories throughout the lifespan.

John Newman's group, the Unit on Developmental Neuroethology, uses neuroscience techniques to study brain mechanisms involved in the production of various types of primate vocalizations. The Unit examines subtle acoustical differences in characteristic calls and investigates the calls' specific functions in several primate species.

Marc Bornstein's group, the Child and Family Research Section, examines cognitive, language, and social-emotional development in human infants, children, and adolescents both within and across different cultures, with special emphasis on characterizing the relationships among early attentional processes, social stimulation from and interactions with caregivers, and subsequent cognitive and social behavioral capabilities.