My research program explores cognition from a developmental and evolutionary perspective. I examine the origins of our cognitive capacities, focusing primarily on our abilities to distinguish and reason about animate and inanimate objects, to interpret the behavior and infer the mental states of others, and to evaluate and engage in prosocial behavior. Each is examined in a comparative manner, studying infants, young children, and non-human primates. The research thus relies upon both developmental and comparative psychology theory to form and test hypotheses about these abilities.