Dr. Elliot Howard Spink

My research focuses on how apes structure ecologically-relevant skills, and how they acquire and retain skills throughout their lifetimes. My current research investigates how different forms of social learning influence the development of feeding repertoires in wild orangutans (from birth to approximately 6-8 years old, when they reach independence). My research uses long-term data collected by the SUAQ team, and a mixture of statistical and agent-based models to create experimental simulations of orangutan development in-silico. Agent-based models are used to test how social learning influences development, by permitting agents to engage in different social behaviours whilst they age.