Project description
An ecological approach to social learning
The notion of culture has long been used to distinguish humans from other animals. But many researchers now commonly apply the term 'culture' to animals when there is evidence of social learning. This appropriation and redefinition of a central anthropological term led to a controversy with anthropologists, who have grown increasingly critical of how the notion is entangled with problematic oppositions such as nature-culture, individual-society, organism-environment and body-mind. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ECO-SOCIALL project will address this controversy by identifying conceptual shortcomings in the dominant approach to social learning and developing a novel perspective grounded in ecological psychology and anthropology. The results will be relevant for biology, psychology and anthropology, as well as education and conservation.
Objective
The modern concept of culture—understood in opposition to nature—has been used to distinguish humans from other animals and anthropology from biology/psychology. Culture has been defined in terms of symbols, shared meanings, language, behavioural patterns, and social learning (SL). However, abundant evidence now shows that SL occurs in many nonhuman animals, including primates, cetaceans, birds, fish, and insects. In these cases, researchers now use the term ‘culture’ in a reduced sense, referring only to transmitted patterns of behaviour, without reference to symbols, language, or meanings. While SL studies have deepened our understanding of human cognitive evolution, this uncritical redefinition led to an enduring controversy with anthropologists. At the same time, anthropologists have increasingly critiqued the modern culture paradigm, advocating for relational and embodied approaches to overcome oppositions such as nature/culture, individual/society, and body/mind, but these critiques are largely ignored by SL researchers. The dominant ‘transmission of information’ model of SL implies an active transmitter and a passive receiver of signals. This model fails to capture the contingent and moment-to-moment coordination which often occur between individuals. This project will foster interdisciplinary dialogue and address three key shortcomings of the dominant approach to SL, namely its commitment to developmental dualism, computationalism, and methodological individualism. WP1 will conduct a scoping review to clarify the epistemic basis, insights, and limitations of the dominant model. WP2 will develop an ecological approach to SL grounded in ecological psychology, developmental systems theory, and contemporary anthropology. WP3 will experimentally compare the dominant and ecological approaches in terms of the research questions, analyses, and interpretations they motivate. This has implications for biology, psychology, anthropology, education, and conservation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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9713 GZ Groningen
Netherlands
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