Dominik Deffner
Guest
Abteilung für Verhalten, Ökologie und Kultur des Menschen
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
E-Mail: dominik_deffner@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research Interests
I am an evolutionary and computational behavioral scientist with a background in Psychology and Anthropology. My research broadly focuses on the individual-level learning processes and population-level social dynamics underlying human cultural adaptation. I mostly use behavioral group experiments, computational and statistical modeling as well as formal mathematical theory to better understand the unique adaptability of our species. At the moment, I am developing a causal inference framework for generalizability in cross-cultural research. I am also a committee member of the Early-career Social Learning Researchers (ESLR) society.
Curriculum Vitae
Publications
* joint first author
ǂ joint senior author
Deffner, D., Fedorova, N., Andrews, J., & McElreath, R.(2024). Bridging theory and data: A computational workflow for cultural evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,121(48): e2322887121. | |
Sterner, P., Pargent, F.,Deffner, D., & Goretzko, D.(2024). A causal framework for the comparability of latent variables. Structural Equation Modeling,31(5), 747-758. |
Open AccessSibilsky, A., Colleran, H.,Deffner, D., & Haun, D. B. M.(2023). Copying fidelity of functional and non-functional features in ni-Vanuatu children: A transmission chain study. PLoS One,18: e0274061. |
Deffner, D., Rohrer, J. M., & McElreath, R.(2022). A causal framework for cross-cultural generalizability. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science,5: 251524592211063. | |
Redhead, D., Minocher, R., &Deffner, D.(2022). Towards a computational network theory of social groups. Behavioral and Brain Sciences,45: e120, pp. 46-48. | |
Deffner, D., & McElreath, R.(2022). When does selection favor learning from the old? Social Learning in age-structured populations. PLoS One,17(4): e0267204. | |
Deffner, D., Kandler, A., & Fogarty, L.(2022). Effective population size for culturally evolving traits. PLoS Computational Biology,18(4): e1009430. | |
Dötsch, D.,Deffner, D., & Schubö, A.(2022). Color me impressed: A partner's target feature captures visual attention. Cognition,220: 104989. | |
Logan, C. J., McCune, K., MacPherson, M., Johnson-Ulrich, Z., Rowney, C., Seitz, B., Blaisdell, A.,Deffner, D., & Wascher, C.(2022). Are the more flexible great-tailed grackles also better at behavioral inhibition? Animal Behavior Cognition,9(1), 14-36. |
Blaisdell, A., Seitz, B., Rowney, C., Folsom, M., MacPherson, M.,Deffner, D., & Logan, C. J.(2021). Do the more flexible individuals rely more on causal cognition? Observation versus intervention in causal inference in great-tailed grackles. Peer Community Journal,1(1): e50. | |
Deffner, D.(2021). Social learning in structured populations: Theoretical and empirical approaches. PhD Thesis, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig. |
Deffner, D., Kleinow, V., & McElreath, R.(2020). Dynamic social learning in temporally and spatially variable environments. Royal Society Open Science,7. | |
Deffner, D., & McElreath, R.(2020). The importance of life history and population regulation for the evolution of social learning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences,375(1803). | |
Clark, A. D.,Deffner, D., Laland, K., Odling-Smee, J., & Endler, J.(2020). Niche construction affects the variability and strength of natural selection. The American Naturalist,195(1), 16-30. |
Deffner, D., & Kandler, A.(2019). Trait specialization, innovation and the evolution of culture in fluctuating environments. Palgrave Communications,5: 147. |
Smolla, M., Invernizzi, E., Bazhydai, M., Casoli, M.,Deffner, D., Faria, G. S., Jones, N., Kanwal, J., Staehler, A., & Uchiyama, R.(2018). Second annual workshop of the Association of Early‐Career Social Learning Researchers in St Andrews, Scotland. Evolutionary Anthropology,27(5): 21746, pp. 184-187. |
Contact
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
e-mail: eco_sec@eva.mpg.de