Research

I am an evolutionary ecologist who typically studies humans. Much of my research uses economic experiments to study behavioral dynamics associated with the social transmission of information. Current topics of interest include intergroup processes, conformity and non-conformity, religion and prosociality, and the endogenous evolution of beliefs, social norms, and preferences.

Publications

2013

• Vogt, S., Efferson, C., and Fehr, E. (in press). Can we see inside? Predicting strategic behavior given limited information. Evolution and Human Behavior.
  vogtEffersonFehr2013.pdf (PDF, 337 KB)
  suppVogtEffersonFerh2013.pdf (PDF, 901 KB)
  dataThinSlicesSoundOff.txt (TXT, 716 KB)
  dataThinSlicesSoundOn.txt (TXT, 750 KB)

• Efferson, C. and Vogt, S. (2013). Viewing men's faces does not lead to accurate predictions of trustworthiness. Scientific Reports. 3: 1-7. DOI: 10.1038/srep01047.
  natSciRepEffersonVogt2013.pdf (PDF, 342 KB)
  suppEffersonVogt2013.pdf (PDF, 344 KB)

2012

• Efferson, C. (2012). A review of A Cooperative Species: Human Reciprocity and Its Evolution by Bowles and Gintis. The Economic Journal. 122: F253-F264.
  bowlesGintisReview (PDF, 133 KB)

2011

• Paciotti, B., Richerson, P. J., Lubell, M., Waring, T., McElreath, R., Efferson, C., and Edsten, E. (2011). Are religious individuals more generous, trusting, and cooperative? An experimental test of the effect of religion on prosociality. Research in Economic Anthropology. 31: 267-305.

• McKay, R., Efferson, C., Whitehouse, H., and Fehr, E. (2011). Wrath of God: religious primes and punishment. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. 278: 1858-1863.

2010

• McKay, R. and Efferson, C. (2010). The subtleties of error management. Evolution and Human Behavior. 31: 309-319.
  errorManagement (PDF, 248 KB)

2008

• Efferson, C., Lalive, R., and Fehr, E. (2008). The coevolution of cultural groups and ingroup favoritism. Science. 321: 1844-1849.

• McElreath, R., Bell, A. V., Efferson, C., Lubell, M., Richerson, P. J., and Waring, T. (2008). Beyond existence and aiming outside the laboratory: estimating frequency-dependent and payoff-biased-social learning strategies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B. 363: 3515-3528.

• Efferson, C. (2008). Prey-producing predators: the ecology of human intensification. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences. 12: 55-74.
  preyProducingPredators (PDF, 220 KB)
  preyProducingPredatorsSupp (PDF, 213 KB)

• Efferson, C., Lalive, R., Richerson, P. J., McElreath, R., and Lubell, M. (2008). Conformists and mavericks: the empirics of frequency-dependent cultural transmission. Evolution and Human Behavior. 29: 56-64.
  confAndMav (PDF, 311 KB)
  confAndMavSupp (PDF, 163 KB)

2007

• Burkart, J. M., Fehr, E., Efferson, C., and van Schaik, C. P. (2007). Other-regarding preferences in a nonhuman primate: common marmosets provision food altruistically. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104: 19762-19766.

• Efferson, C., Takezawa, M., and McElreath, R. (2007). New methods in quantitative ethnography: economic experiments and variation in the price of equality. Current Anthropology. 48: 912-919.
  currAnthro (PDF, 300 KB)

• Efferson, C., Richerson, P. J. (2007). A prolegomenon to nonlinear empiricism in the human behavioral sciences. Biology and Philosophy. 22: 1-33.
  prolegomenon (PDF, 572 KB)

• Efferson, C., Richerson, P. J., McElreath, R., Lubell, M., Edsten, E., Waring, T. M., Paciotti, B., and Baum, W. (2007). Learning, productivity, and noise: an experimental study of cultural transmission on the Bolivian Altiplano. Evolution and Human Behavior. 28: 11-17.
  mergedLPN (PDF, 286 KB)

2006

• McEachern, M. B., Eagle-Smith, C. A., Efferson, C. M., Van Vuren, D. H. (2006). Evidence for local specialization in a generalist mammalian herbivore, Neotoma fuscipes. Oikos. 113: 440-448.

2005

• McElreath, R., Lubell, M., Richerson, P. J., Waring, T. M., Baum, W., Edsten, E., Efferson, C., and Paciotti, B. (2005). Applying evolutionary models to the laboratory study of social learning. Evolution and Human Behavior. 26: 483-508.
  labSocLearning (PDF, 298 KB)

2004

• Baum, W. M., Richerson, P. J., Efferson, C. M., Paciotti, B. M. (2004). Cultural evolution in laboratory microsocieties including traditions of rule giving and rule following. Evolution and Human Behavior. 25: 305-326.
  microsocieties (PDF, 570 KB)

Teaching

Every fall semester, I teach a Master's level class on the psychological and biological foundations of economic behavior. I also supervise Bachelor's, Master's, and Ph.D. theses related to cultural transmission, social dynamics, the evolution of norms, and prosocial behavior.