معرفی
Professor Cecilia Heyes is a leading academic in cognitive psychology and evolutionary studies at the University of Oxford. She holds dual affiliations as Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College since 2008. Her work bridges evolutionary biology and cognitive science, focusing on how natural selection, learning, and cultural processes shape human cognition.
Educated at Oxford, she holds a BSc, MA, and PhD, and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). Her research emphasizes the evolution of social cognition, including imitation, theory of mind, and metacognition. She challenges innate theories of cognitive development, advocating instead for cultural and environmental shaping of cognitive capacities.
Her recent work explores 'cognitive gadgets'—traits like language and theory of mind that evolved through gene-culture coevolution. Notable contributions include the Bifocal Stance Theory of cultural evolution and critiques of mirror neuron theories. She has published widely on topics ranging from cultural transmission mechanisms to the evolutionary foundations of teaching.
Awarded the FBA for her transformative contributions to cognitive science, Heyes also engages in interdisciplinary research, collaborating across psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. Her teaching focuses on integrating evolutionary perspectives into cognitive studies, and she advises on research grants exploring cultural learning dynamics.
Leveraging her senior research role at All Souls, she hosts visiting scholars and contributes to the college's intellectual community. Her lab's work examines how cultural practices reshape cognitive processes, with ongoing projects on metacognition's social origins and the Baldwin effect in cognitive evolution.
