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Animal Cognition
Cold-blooded Cognition
Very little is known about the cognitive abilities of reptiles. They have traditionally been considered to be “sluggish and unintelligent creatures” (Yerkes, 1901) and have largely been ignored in the study of animal cognition.
However, to gain an understanding of the evolution of cognition in amniotes, it is necessary to carry out research into the learning and memory abilities of reptiles that parallel the extensive work already available in mammals and birds. Our research has revealed that reptiles possess an impressive suite of cognitive abilities from complex social learning (e.g. Kis et al.,2015) to extensive long-term memory (e.g. Soldati et al.,2017). They can even use a touchscreen!
Academics: Prof Anna Wilkinson, Prof Oliver Burman, Dr Tom Pike, Prof Libby John
Working Animal Cognition
Animals are used to help humans in all sorts of tasks, from explosive detection to search and rescue. The Working Animal Cognition group uses cutting edge science to improve the performance of working animals. We investigate a range of areas, from novel training techniques to to the impact of environmental changes on performance.
This research takes our knowledge about the mechanisms underlying animal cognition and uses it to solve real-world problems.
Academics: Prof Anna Wilkinson, Prof Daniel Mills, Dr Tom Pike, Dr Carl Soulsbury, Dr Helen Zulch
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Key Personnel and Expertise
Academics
Professor Anna Wilkinson – cold blooded cognition; cold blooded care; working animal cognition
Professor Oliver Burman – cold blooded care
Professor Kun Guo – emotion perception; expression and regulation in dogs
Professor Daniel Mills – animal affective systems and individual differences in behaviour; animal learning, training, and behaviour modification methods
Dr Tom Pike – model animal behaviour; the use of technologies in the assessment of animal behaviour cognition and welfare
Dr Helen Zulch – canine olfaction; animal learning, training and behaviour modification methods
Dr Beth Ventura – ManyGoats: a multi-site research initiative for goat cognition
Postgraduate Researcher and Technical Staff
Agnese Crisante – does ownership impact perception of reptile cognitive abilities and welfare needs; does environmental enrichment impact bearded dragons welfare and cognition; how different living conditions impact bearded dragons physiology; all is not equal: public perception of cognitive abilities and suffering in different species of pet animals; microbiome and behaviour of working dogs
Dr Holly Root-Gutteridge – improving performance of scent detection dogs; using howls to understand and track wild wolves; exploring individual recognition by tortoises
Dr Claire Ricci-Bonot – improving performance of scent detection dogs
Research Students
Iwan Sion Evans – object manipulation behaviour in zoo housed Asian small-clawed otters
Lulu Xu – emotion regulation in dogs; the influence in human ethnicity and culture on emotion regulation in dogs
Kelsey Grace Felder – applying gopher tortoise cognition to their conservation
Rebecca Sumner – touchscreen system to provide cognitive enrichment for dogs in kennels