I am a linguist by training, graduating from Newcastle University with a BA in English Language and Literature in 2017. The flexibility of my bachelors degree allowed me to put linguistics and cognitive science as my primary focus, and I quickly became interested in studying this subject from an evolutionary perspective.
Since completing my BA I have moved to Newcastle University’s Institute of Neuroscience to conduct research on the vocal behaviour of the jackdaw for my masters thesis.
During my PhD, I am exploring the development and evolution of human cooperation.
From an evolutionary perspective, I am comparing a social and a non-social corvid to young children in their cooperative problem solving capabilities.
The aim is to try and understand the effects a social environment has on the evolution of such cognitive abilities. From a developmental perspective, I am comparing how these cognitive abilities develop as children grow older, and whether or not their preferences of cooperative partners change as they grow older.
