Talk: “What sparks curiosity? Tracing its evolutionary roots in humans and non-human primates” (1 Dec 2025)
The RTG 2906 “Curiosity” invites to a Guest Talk: “What sparks curiosity? Tracing its evolutionary roots in humans and non-human primates“. The talk is delivered by Sae In Lee from the University of Zurich. Scheduled for 1 December 2025, 14:00h in ZHG 005.
What is the lecture about?
Curiosity drives how we explore, learn, and share knowledge. In this talk, Sae In Lee presents a cross-species research project comparing curiosity in chimpanzees and pre-verbal human children. The study asks whether curiosity is always sparked by novelty or whether familiar objects can also be intriguing, and how social cues – such as another person’s surprise or interest – shape curiosity. Using non-verbal behavioral methods, the project examines whether curiosity can be triggered socially even when the object remains unseen.
Sae In Lee will also share findings from her doctoral research on social learning in wild Javan gibbons, showing how socioecological factors create learning opportunities, for example when individuals become curious about food by observing others. Together, these studies highlight curiosity as both an individual and a social process with deep evolutionary roots in learning and cultural transmission.
