Dr Deborah Custance BSc PhD
Position held:
Lecturer
Phone:
+44 (0)20 7919 7897
Fax:
+44 (0)20 7919 7873
Email:
d.custance (@gold.ac.uk)
Room 203/1 Whitehead Building,
Psychology Department,
Goldsmiths, University of London,
New Cross, SE14 6NW
Research interests
My main research area is 'comparative-developmental psychology' which involves the study of human and non-human primate behaviour based on frameworks drawn from developmental and evolutionary psychology. I am particularly interested in Social Intelligence and much of my research to date has focused on complex forms of social learning such as imitation. Before coming to Goldsmiths I conducted experiments on the imitation of arbitrary gestures by young chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Also in collaboration with a number of colleagues, I designed an 'artificial fruit' processing task which has, so far, been presented to human children and adults (Homo sapiens), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus), pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), laboratory-raised and hand-raised tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), and even the giant New Zealand parrot, the kea (Nestor notables).
More recently, I have conducted research in Zoo Atlanta on program-level imitation in orang-utans. I was also funded by The British Academy to visit Berenty Reserve in Madagascar for three months to study the effect of social dynamics on social transmission in wild ring-tailed lemurs.
In a relatively new research area for me, I have embarked upon an ESRC funded research project on object-directed imitation in children with autism.
Finally, I have pursued a quite different line of research on the dog-human bond. Along with a group of Italian colleagues and my postgraduate student, Robyn Palmer, we used Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure to investigate whether the dog-human bond is consistent with infantile attachment.
Selected publications
Custance, Deborah M., Prato Previde, E., Spiezio, C. and Rigamonti, M.. 2006. Social Learning in Pig-Tailed Macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and Adult Humans (Homo sapiens) on a Two-Action Artificial Fruit. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120(3), pp. 303-313. ISSN 07357036 [Article]
Custance, Deborah M., Prato Previde, E. and Spiezio, C.. 2005. Testing for localized stimulus enhancement and object movement re-enactment in pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and young children (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 119(3), pp. 257-272. ISSN 07357036 [Article]
Custance, Deborah M., Whiten, A. and Fredman, T.. 2002. Social learning and primate reintroduction. International Journal of Primatology, 23(3), pp. 479-499. ISSN 01640291 [Article]
Custance, Deborah M., Whiten, A., Sambrook, T. and Galdikas, B.. 2001. Testing for social learning in the artificial fruit processing of wildborn orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), Tanjung Puting, Indonesia. Animal Cognition, 4(3-4), pp. 305-313. ISSN 14359448 [Article]
Custance, Deborah M., Whiten, Andrew and Fredman, Tamar. 1999. Social learning of an artificial fruit task in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 113(1), pp. 13-23. ISSN 0735-7036 [Article]
Whiten, Andrew and Custance, Deborah M.. 1996. Studies of imitation in chimpanzees and children. In: Cecilia M. Heyes and Bennett G. Galef, eds. Social learning in animals. The roots of culture. San Diego, USA: Academic Press, pp. 291-318. ISBN 0122739655 [Book Section]
Whiten, Andrew, Custance, Deborah M., Gomez, Juan-Carlos, Teixidor, Patricia and Bard, Kim. 1996. Imitative learning of artificial fruit processing in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 110(1), pp. 3-14. ISSN 0735-7036 [Article]
Custance, Deborah M., Whiten, Andrew and Bard, Kim. 1995. Can young chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) imitate arbitrary actions? Hayes & Hayes (1952) revisited. Behaviour, 132(11/12), 837 -859 . ISSN 0005-7959 [Article]