H Clark Barrett

Clark Barrett

Associate Professor

UCLA Department of Anthropology

376 Haines Hall, Box 951553

Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1553

310-267-4260

barrett [at] anthro.ucla.edu

My research takes an evolutionary psychological approach to understanding cognitive development by using parallel cross-cultural studies, primarily in the U.S. and among the Shuar of Ecuador, to test hypotheses about the design features of evolved psychological mechanisms. My recent research focuses on mechanisms that leverage features of social and natural environments to shape developmental outcomes. I am currently director of the FPR-UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development, and coordinator of anthropological research for the AHRC Culture and the Mind Project.

FPR-UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development

AHRC Culture and the Mind Project

Selected papers

Hagen, E. H., and Barrett, H. C. (2009). Cooperative breeding and adolescent siblings: Evidence for the ecological constraints model? Current Anthropology, 50, 727-737.

Wilke, A., and Barrett, H. C. (2009). The hot hand phenomenon as a cognitive adaptation to clumped resources. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30, 161-169.

supplementary materials

Barrett, H. C., Frankenhuis, W., & Wilke, A. (2008). Adaptation to moving targets: Culture / gene coevolution, not either / or. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31, 511-512.

Flamson, T., and Barrett, H. C. (2008). The encryption theory of humor: a knowledge-based mechanism of honest signaling. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 6, 261-281.

Snyder, J., Kirkpatrick, L., and Barrett, H.C. (2008). The dominance dilemma: do women really prefer dominant mates? Personal Relationships, 15, 425-444.

Barrett, H. C. (2008). Evolved cognitive mechanisms and human behavior. In Crawford, C. & Krebs, D. (eds.) Foundations of evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues, applications and findings. (2nd Ed.) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.

Bryant, G. A., & Barrett, H. C. (2007). Recognizing intentions in infant-directed speech: Evidence for universals. Psychological Science, 18, 746-751.

Machery, E., and Barrett, H. C. (2006). Debunking Adapting Minds. Philosophy of Science, 73, 232-246.

Hagen, E., and Barrett, H. C. (2007). Perinatal sadness among Shuar women: Support for an evolutionary theory of psychic pain. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 21, 22-40.

Barrett, H. C., and Kurzban, R. (2006). Modularity in cognition: Framing the debate. Psychological Review, 113, 628-647.

Barrett, H. C., Frederick, D., Haselton, M., & Kurzban, R. (2006). Can manipulations of cognitive load be used to test evolutionary hypotheses? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 513-518.

Henrich, J., McElreath, R., Barr, A., Ensminger, J., Barrett, C., Bolyanatz, A., Cardenas, J. C., Gurven, M., Gwako E., Henrich, N., Lesorogol, C., Marlowe, F., Tracer, D., and Ziker, J. (2006). Costly punishment across human societies. Science, 312, 1767-1770.

Barrett, H. C. (2005). Enzymatic computation and cognitive modularity. Mind and Language, 20, 259-287.

Barrett, H. C. & Behne, T. (2005). Children’s understanding of death as the cessation of agency: A test using sleep versus death. Cognition, 96, 93-108.

Barrett, H.C., Todd, P.M., Miller, G.F., and Blythe, P. (2005). Accurate judgments of intention from motion alone: A cross-cultural study. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 313-331.

Supplementary materials

German, T., & Barrett, H.C. (2005). Functional fixedness in a technologically sparse culture. Psychological Science, 16, 1-5.

Barrett, H. C. (2006). Modularity and design reincarnation. In Carruthers, P., Laurence, S., & Stich, S. (Eds.), The innate mind: Culture and cognition. (pp. 199-217). New York: Oxford University Press.