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Pat Barclay is an evolutionary psychologist whose research integrates evolutionary biology, animal behavior, social psychology, mathematical game theory, and experimental economics. He explores cooperation, altruism, reputation, punishment, friendship, partner choice, trust, biological markets, costly signaling, and risk-taking within human groups. His research is grounded in the evolutionary psychological framework, generating hypotheses about human prosocial behavior, particularly focused on how features of our brains encourage altruistic behavior. He employs experimental cooperative games, such as the well-known Prisoner's Dilemma and public goods games, to analyze decisions made for mutual benefit. His work on risky behavior, inequality, and competition has contributed valuable insights into social dilemmas related to public good provision. Barclay has also delivered keynote speeches and presentations at academic conferences, linking his findings to broader discussions on human cooperation and social behavior. He is dedicated to guiding students in research processes and teaches upper-year evolutionary psychology seminars that promote critical thinking.
University of Guelph • Guelph, ON, Canada
Professor in the Department of Psychology focusing on evolutionary psychology.
Department of Clinical Studies. Offers MSc by thesis (2 years) and MSc by coursework (1 year).