Research
Interests: Cognitive evolution, developmental
psychology, cognition and culture, social cognition, normativity, cultural
transmission, ritual, imitation.
Education Ph.D., March 2013, Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK M. A., May 2006, Psychology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, magna cum laude Professional Experience January 2013 – Present Postdoctoral Fellow, Cognition, Culture and Development Lab, The University of Texas at Austin August 2012 – May 2013 Lecturer, Texas State University, San Marcos July 2010 – January 2013 Visiting Researcher, Cognition, Culture, and Development Lab, The University of Texas at Austin Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. T. A., Legare,
C. H., Harris, P. L. (in press). Does the body survive death? Cultural variation
in beliefs about life everlasting. Cognitive Science. Watson-Jones, R. E. & Legare, C. H. (2016). The social functions of group rituals. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25, 42-46.Watson-Jones, R. E. & Legare, C. H. (2016). The functions of ritual in social groups. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, commentary on Norenzayan, A.,
Shariff, A. F., Willard, A. K., Slingerland, E., Gervais, W. M., McNamara, R.,
& Henrich, J. Watson-Jones, R. E., Legare, C. H., & Whitehouse, H. (2016). In-group ostracism increases high fidelity imitation in early childhood. Psychological Science, 27(1), 34-42. Legare, C. H., Watson-Jones, R. E., & Souza, A. L. (2016). A
cognitive psychological account of reasoning about ritual efficacy. In H.
DeCruz and R. Nichols (Eds.), Advances in
religion, cognitive science, and experimental philosophy (pp. 85-102). London, UK: Continuum
International Publishing Group. Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. A., & Legare, C. H. (2015). Interdisciplinary perspectives on explanatory coexistence. Topics in Cognitive Science, 7, 611-623. Legare, C. H. & Watson-Jones, R. E. (2015).
The evolution and ontogeny of ritual. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, Vol. 2 (pp. 829-847). New York, NY: Wiley. Watson-Jones, R. E., & Legare, C. H. (2015). Cognition and culture.
In H. L. Miller, Jr. (Gen. ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in
Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishers. Watson-Jones, R. E., Legare, C. H.,
Whitehouse, H., & Clegg, J. M. (2014). Task-specific effects of ostracism
on imitation in early childhood. Evolution
& Human Behavior, 35(3), 204-210. Busch, J. T. A., Watson-Jones, R. E., &
Legare, C. H. (resubmitted). Cross-cultural variation in the development of folk ecological reasoning. Cognitive Psychology. Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. T. A., & Legare, C. H. (revise & resubmit). The natural and the supernatural: Reasoning about human origins, illness, and death in Vanuatu. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Watson-Jones, R. E., Conroy-Beam, D., Legare, C. H. (in preparation). Evolutionary perspectives on the development of imitation. Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. T. A., &
Legare, C. H. (in preparation). Conservation in context: A comparison of U.S.
and Ni-Vanuatu views of the conservation of nature across development. Watson-Jones, R. E., Jea, I., Busch, J. T.
A., & Legare, C. H. (in preparation). Individual differences in reasoning
about the afterlife. Conference Symposia Organizer, symposium titled “The Cognitive Underpinnings of Cultural Learning,” annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Berlin, Germany, August 2013.
Presentations Watson-Jones, R. E. (2016, July). In-group ostracism increases high-fidelity imitation in early childhood. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Vancouver, BC. Nominated for the Postdoctoral Award. Davis, S., Legare, C. H., Clegg, J. M., Watson-Jones, R. E., Shapiro, S. J., Lambeth, S. P., & Whiten, A. (2015, October). Behavioral flexibility in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Relinquishing and building on witnessed behaviors to improve efficiency. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive development Society, Columbus, OH. Watson-Jones, R., Busch, J.T.A., & Legare, C.H. (2015, October). Does the body survive death? Cultural variation in beliefs about the life everlasting. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Columbus, OH.
Wen, N. J., Legare, C. H., Watson-Jones, R. E., Ratcliffe, M. R., & Gelman, S. A. (2015, October). The effect of ritual on instrumental tool use. Poster presented at the biennial Meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Columbus, OH. Watson-Jones, R. E. Afterlife concepts across cultures and development. (March, 2015). Invited talk at The Philosophy and Psychology of Afterlife Beliefs Workshop, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. T. A., Legare, C. H., Harris, P. L. (March, 2015). Afterlife concepts across cultures and development. Poster presented at the biennial meeting at the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA. Busch, J. T. A., Watson-Jones, R. E., & Legare, C. H. (March, 2014). The cross-cultural development of a conceptual organization of biological knowledge in childhood. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Human Development, Austin, TX. Wan, V., Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. T. A., & Legare, C. H. (March, 2014). Afterlife concepts of biological and psychological processes across cultures. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Human Development, Austin, TX. Watson-Jones, R. E., Legare, C. H., & Whitehouse, H. (March, 2014). Ostracism increases imitative fidelity of in-group members. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Human Development, Austin, TX. Watson-Jones, R. E., Legare, C. H., & Whitehouse, H. (October, 2013). Stay with the Group: Ostracism increases imitative fidelity of in-group members. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Memphis, TN. Watson-Jones, R. E., Legare, C. H., Whitehouse, H., & Clegg, J. M. (April, 2013). Ostracism, Ritual, and Affilaitive Motivations for Imitation. Symposium paper presented at the bi-annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, WA. Watson-Jones, R. E., Legare, C. H., Whitehouse, H., & Clegg, J. M. (June, 2012). Affiliative Motivations and the Development of Normativity. Symposium paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Albuquerque, NM. Watson-Jones, R. E. (2011). The Role of Implied Threat Cues in the Development of Ritualized Behavior. Paper presented to the CAM Lab Group, University of Oxford. Watson-Jones, R. E. (2010). Current Debates on the Evolution of Religion. Guest Lecture, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford.
Courses Taught Experimental Design & Research Methods
Grant Experience The Coexistence of Scientific and Religious Explanations across Cultures and Development, Principal Investigator: Dr. Cristine Legare. Awarded by The John Templeton Foundation. Role: Member of the grant writing team. Imitative Foundations of Cultural Learning, Principal Investigator: Dr. Cristine Legare. Under review by National Institute of Health. Role: Member of the grant writing team. Honors and Awards School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography Writing-up Bursary, University of Oxford Wolfson College Fieldwork Grant, University of Oxford University of North Texas President's Fund Scholarship Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society Golden Key National Honor Society University of North Texas President's List University of North Texas Dean's List
Professional Memberships Society for Anthropological Sciences Society for Research in Child Development Cognitive Science Society Cognitive Development Society Human Behavior and Evolution Society Professional Activities and Experience Ad hoc reviewer: British Journal of Developmental Psychology; Journal of the Cognitive Science of Religion; TopiCS; Journal of Experimental Child Psychology; Child Development; Frontiers in Cognitive Science; Cognitive Science; PLOS One
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