Dario Maestripieri has been an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago since 1999. He holds joint faculty appointments in the Committee on Human Development, the Department of Psychology, the Committee on Evolutionary Biology, and the Institute for Mind and Biology.

Dario Maestripieri is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Emory University, and an Affiliate Scientist in the Division of Psychobiology of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center of Emory University in Atlanta.

Dr. Maestripieri received his Ph.D. in Psychobiology from the University of Rome, Italy, in 1992. He worked as a Research Scholar at the Sub-department of Animal Behaviour of the University of Cambridge in 1990-91 and as a Research Associate at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center from 1992 to 1999.

Dr. Maestripieri has received numerous grants and awards in recognition of his research accomplishments including the 1991 National Award "B. Grassi" from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy) as the best young investigator in the field of Zoology and the  2000 American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of Animal Learning and Behavior/Comparative Psychology.

Contact Information:
Department of Human Development
HD 303
5730 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago IL, 60637
Fax: 773-702-0320
Email: dario@uchicago.edu
Other Links: http://primate.uchicago.edu

Research Interests
Dr. Maestripieri's interests focus on behavioral biology and behavioral development from a comparative and evolutionary perspective. One line of research uses nonhuman primate models of parenting and development to investigate hormonal and other biological influences on maternal responsiveness, the determinants of interindividual variability in parenting styles, and the causes and consequences of infant abuse and neglect. Other aspects of primate social behavior are also investigated. A second line of research with humans focuses on the determinants of parental responsiveness, parent-child bonding and attachment, the effects of social support on parenting, and social interactions among children. A third line of research focuses on human physiological, psychological, and behavioral adaptations for social behavior, mating, and parenting (evolutionary psychology).

Recent Publications
Articles
Maestripieri, D. (1998). Parenting styles of abusive mothers in group-living rhesus macaques. Animal Behavior, 55, 1-11.

Maestripieri, D. & Carroll, K. A. (1998). Risk factors for infant abuse and neglect in rhesus monkeys. Psychological Science, 9, 143-145.

Tomaszycki, M., Cline, C., Griffin, B., Maestripieri, D. & Hopkins, W. D. (1998). Maternal cradling and infant nipple preferences in rhesus macaques. Developmental Psychobiology, 32, 305-312.

Maestripieri, D. & Carroll, K. A. (1998). Child abuse and neglect: Usefulness of the animal data. Psychological Bulletin, 123, 234-237.

Maestripieri, D. (1998). Social and demographic influences on mothering style in pigtail macaques. Ethology, 104, 379-385.

Zehr, J. L., Maestripieri, D. & Wallen, K. (1998). Estrogen increases female sexual initiation independent of male responsiveness in rhesus monkeys. Hormones and Behavior, 33, 95-103.

Maestripieri, D. & Carroll, K. A. (1998). Behavioral and environmental correlates of infant abuse in group-living pigtail macaques. Infant Behavior & Development, 21, 603-612.

Maestripieri, D. (1998). The evolution of male-infant interactions in the tribe Papionini (Primates: Cercopithecidae). Folia Primatologica, 69, 247-251.

Maestripieri, D. & Zehr, J. L. (1998). Maternal responsiveness increases during pregnancy and after estrogen treatment in macaques. Hormones and Behavior, 34, 223-230.

Maestripieri, D. (1999). The biology of human parenting: Insights from nonhuman primates. Neuroscience & Behavioral Reviews, 23, 411-422.

Maestripieri, D., Tomaszycki, M. & Carroll, K. A. (1999). Consistency and change in the behavior of rhesus macaque abusive mothers with successive infants. Developmental Psychobiology, 34, 29-35.

Maestripieri, D. (1999). Formal dominance: The emperoršs new clothes? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 113, 96-98.

Maestripieri, D. & Carroll, K. A. (1999). Costs and benefits of female aggressiveness in humans and other Mammals. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 231-232.

Maestripieri, D. (1999). Fatal attraction: interest in infants and infant abuse in rhesus macaques. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 110, 17-25.

Maestripieri, D. (1999). Changes in social behavior and its hormonal correlates across pregnancy in pig-tailed macaques. International Journal of Primatology, 20, 707-718.

Maestripieri, D. & Carroll, K. A. (2000). Causes and consequences of infant abuse and neglect in monkeys. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5, 245-254.

Maestripieri, D., Jovanovic, T. & Gouzoules, H. (2000). Crying and infant abuse in rhesus monkeys. Child Development, 71, 301-309.

Maestripieri, D., Megna, N.L., & Jovanovic, T. (2000). Adoption and maltreatment of foster infants by rhesus macaque abusive mothers. Developmental Science, 3, 287-293.

Maestripieri, D. (2000). Determinants of affiliative interactions between adult males and lactating females in pigtail macaques. Ethology, 106, 425-439.

Cabib, S., D'Amato, F.R., Puglisi-Allegra, S., & Maestripieri, D. (2000). Behavioral and mesocorticolimbic dopamine responses to non agressive social interactions depend on previous social eperiences and on the opponent's sex. Behavioral Brain Research, 112, 13-22.

Maestripieri, D. (2000). Measuring temperament in rhesus macaques: Consistency and change in emotionality over time. Behavioral Processes, 49, 167-171.

Jovanovic, T., Megna, N.L., & Maestripieri, D. (2000). Early maternal recognition of offspring vocalizations in rhesus macaques (Macca mulatta). Primates, 41, 421-428.

Maestripieri, D. & Megna, N.L. (2000). Hormones and behavior in abusive and nonabusive rhesus macaque mothers. 1: Social interactions during late pregnancy and early lactation. Physiology & Behavior, 71, 35-42.

Maestripieri, D. & Megna, N.L. (2000). Hormones and behavior in abusive and nonabusive rhesus macaque mothers. 2: Mother-infant interactions. Physiology & Behavior, 71, 43-49.

Maestripieri, D. & Kappeler, P.M. (2002). Evolutionary theory and primate behavior. International Journal of Primatology, 23, 703-705.

Maestripieri, D. (2002). Parent-offspring conflict in primates. International Journal of Primatology, 23, 923-951.

Graves, F.C., Wallen, K., & Maestripieri, D. (2002). Opiods and attachment in rhesus macaque abusive mothers. Behavioral Neuroscience, 116, 489-493.

Maestripieri, D. (2002). Maternal dominance rank and age affect offspring sex ratio in pigtail macaques. Journal of Mammalogy, 83, 563-568.

Maestripieri, D. & Pelka, S. (2002). Sex differences in interest in infants across the lifespan: A biological adaptation for parenting? Human Nature, 13, 327-344.

Maestripieri, D. (in press). Biological bases of maternal attachment. Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Maestripieri, D. (in press). Female-based maternal investment in rhesus macaques. Folia Primatologica.

Maestripieri, D. (in press). Is there mother-infant bonding in primates? Developmental Review.

Maestripieri, D. (in press). Intraspecific variability in parenting styles of rhesus macaques: The role of the social environment. Ethology.

Maestripieri, D. & Whitham, J. (in press). Teaching in marine mammals? Anecdotes vs. science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

Maestripieri, D. (in press). Science, philosophy, and the study of animal minds. Evolution of Communication.

Book Chapters
Maestripieri, D. (1998). Osservazione, registrazione e definizione delle relazioni madre-figlio nei primati non umani. In: Tartabini, A. (ed.), Tecniche di Osservazione del Comportamento Infantile. Milano: McGraw-Hill, pp. 37-51.

Maestripieri, D. (1999). Primate social organization, gestural repertoire size, and communication dynamics: a comparative study of macaques. In King, B. J., (ed.), The Origins of Languages. What Nonhuman Primates Can Tell Us. Santa Fe: School of American Research.

Maestripieri, D. & Wallen, K. (in press). Nonhuman primate models of developmental psychopathology: problems and prospects. In Cicchetti, D. & Walker, E. (eds.), Neurodevelopmental Factors in Psychopathology. Cambridge: Cabridge University Press.

Maestripieri, D. (in press). Biological bases of maternal attachment. In J.T. Cacioppo, G.G. Bernston, R. Adolphs, C.S. Carter, R.J. Davidson, M.K. McClintock, B.S. McEwen, M.J. Meaney, D.L. Schacter, E.M. Sternberg, S.J. Suomi, S.E. Taylor, (eds.), Foundations of Social Neuroscience, MIT Press.

Selected Courses
HD 342. Evolution of Parenting

HD 343. Primate Behavior

HD 347. Evolutionary Social Psychology

HD 349. Biopsychology of Attachment