News Republic of Congo History: Development of social learning and play in BaYaka hunter-gatherers of Congo
High-fidelity transmission of information through imitation and teaching has been proposed as necessary for cumulative cultural evolution. Yet, it is unclear when and for which knowledge domains children employ different social learning processes. This paper explores the development of social learning processes and play in BaYaka hunter-gatherer children by analysing video recordings and time budgets of children from early infancy to adolescence. From infancy to early childhood, hunter-gatherer children learn mainly by imitating and observing others’ activities. From early childhood, learning occurs mainly in playgroups and through practice. Throughout childhood boys engage in play more often than girls whereas girls start foraging wild plants from early childhood and spend more time in domestic activities and childcare. Sex differences in play reflect the emergence of sexual division of labour and the play-work transition occurring earlier for girls. Consistent with theoretical models, teaching occurs for skills/knowledge that cannot be transmitted with high fidelity through other social learning processes such as the acquisition of abstract information e.g. social norms. Whereas, observational and imitative learning occur for the transmission of visually transparent skills such as tool use, foraging, and cooking. These results suggest that coevolutionary relationships between human sociality, language and teaching have likely been fundamental in the emergence of human cumulative culture.
News Republic of Congo History: Rwanda closes border with Democratic Republic of Congo amid Ebola outbreak
The one-year-old daughter of the man who died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s major city of Goma this week ... It is now the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, and last month ...
News Republic of Congo History: Survivors Care For Children Orphaned By Ebola In The Democratic Republic Of Congo
UNICEF/UN0264160/Hubbard More than 2,500 people have been infected and nearly 1,700 people have died since the second largest Ebola outbreak in history began last August in eastern Democratic Republic ...
News Republic of Congo History: 1,400 people have died so far in the second largest outbreak of Ebola in history
The Ebola virus epidemic in Western Africa was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history, killing over 11,000 people ... declaring another Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the ...
News Republic of Congo History: Congo-Kinshasa: A Short History of an Ebola Vaccine
Samples taken from the Kikwit outbreak would later end up providing a basis for the V920 vaccine being used in the latest Ebola outbreak in what is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo ...
News Republic of Congo History: Number of Ebola cases in Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak tops the 2,000 mark
An Ebola outbreak ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo has infected more than 2,000 people ... Aid workers are struggling to contain the outbreak, considered to be the second worst in history, ...
