Francys Subiaul

Dr. Francys Subiaul is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech, Hearing and Language Sciences at the George Washington University, within the College of Arts and Sciences. His academic work bridges cognitive science, developmental psychology, and biological anthropology, with a focus on the origins and mechanisms of social and cultural learning.

• Ph.D. in Anthropology and Psychology, Columbia University
• B.A. in Psychology and Biological Anthropology, Boston University

Dr. Subiaul's research centers on the cognitive foundations of human uniqueness, particularly imitation and cultural learning. He investigates how children and adults learn from others, the developmental trajectory of these skills, and how they compare to non-human primates. His work spans social-cognitive development, primate cognition, autism, and more recently, human-canine communication. He leads the Social Cognition Lab, where students from various disciplines engage in behavioral research.

His recent publications reveal a consistent focus on imitation mechanisms, cultural transmission, and comparative cognition. Themes include domain-specific imitation, summative imitation, vicarious learning, and the evolution of social learning. His work increasingly explores the interface between human cognition and animal behavior, particularly in canids.

• Obituary: Ralph L. Holloway (2025)
• Raising an Eye at Facial Muscle Morphology in Canids (2024)
• Generative Cultural Learning in Children and Adults (2023)
• Are there dedicated neural mechanisms for imitation? (2023)
• Intuitive invention by summative imitation (2020)

Dr. Subiaul has mentored numerous research assistants across BA, MA, PhD, and post-doctoral levels in his lab. He has been continuously tenured since 2012 and teaches courses such as Foundations of Human Communication, Autism: Insights into Mind, Brain & Development, and Dean’s Seminars on the Evolution of the Human Mind and Primate Cognition. He emphasizes a teaching philosophy centered on awakening curiosity through big questions and critical thinking assignments.

His lab conducts research using tasks like the Standard Simultaneous Chaining Task, Tracking Task, and Social Feedback paradigms, often involving eye-tracking and touch-screen technology to study social cognition in children and comparative species.