Biography

Francesca is a Research Fellow at the IAST affiliated with the Cognitive Evolution Group of the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her research examines the evolutionary origins of human judgment and decision-making, by comparing how humans and other primates acquire and process information, and, ultimately, make decisions. In doing so, she aims to elucidate which aspect of are unique to humans, and how species’ differences in life history, ecology, and social structure account for differences in their decision strategies. She studies several primate populations including captive capuchin monkeys, semi-free ranging macaques and lemurs, and humans. She received a PhD in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology from Sapienza University of Rome and conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University and the University of Michigan.