- BERG - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

Fw: Burn meeting: 2-4 September 2022 – registration deadline extended

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Reminder...... ________________________________ From: sprg-request(a)st-andrews.ac.uk <sprg-request(a)st-andrews.ac.uk> on behalf of Manon Schweinfurth <ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk> Sent: 15 July 2022 12:44 Dear primatologists of Scotland and further afield, We are pleased to let you know that we have extended the deadline to register for the upcoming Burn meeting. You can now register until the 22nd of July. The places can now also be filled by non SPRG members. So please spread the word. We are also extremely delighted to announce this year’s keynote speaker: Prof. Amanda Seed from the University of St Andrews (https://seedlab.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fseedlab.w…>). Amanda is internationally renowned for her research on the evolution of flexible behaviour and abstract thought in non-human primates and children. She is the director of the ‘Living Links to Human Evolution’ research centre at Edinburgh Zoo, and a member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland. On top, she is a fantastic speaker, and we were very excited that she will be talking at our meeting. Thanks, Amanda, we are very much looking forward to hearing more about your research. We have set up a car-pooling website - please add your car here if you intend to drive, and others can sign up for lifts: https://www.groupcarpool.com/t/293cip<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.group…> Another option is taking a train to Montrose and taking a taxi (approx. 30 min taxi ride). If you intend to do this, and would like to share a taxi with others, you could also add your intended taxi time to the carpool above for others to join. If you've signed up already, please remember to send us your abstract and make the payment. All the best, Emma McEwen & Manon Schweinfurth *** Dates and deadlines in a nutshell *** Registration deadline: 15th of July ***NOW*** 22nd of July Abstract deadline: 29th of July Burn meeting: 2nd – 4th September From: Manon Schweinfurth <ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk> Sent: 22 June 2022 14:34 To: sprg(a)st-andrews.ac.uk <sprg(a)st-andrews.ac.uk> Cc: Emma McEwen <esm7(a)st-andrews.ac.uk>; Hannah Buchanan-Smith <h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: Burn Meeting: 2-4 September 2022 - registration CAUTION: This email originated from outside University of Stirling. Do not follow links or open attachments if you doubt the authenticity of the sender or the content. ________________________________ Dear all, The last Burn meeting (also known as the annual Scottish Primate Research Group ‘SPRG’ meeting) took place in 2019. The pandemic hit, field seasons had to be cancelled, and many in-person conferences, like our Burn meeting, too. However, the world looks a bit different now and we are thrilled to let you know that the next Burn meeting will go ahead, taking place from 2nd - 4th of September 2022 in ‘The Burn’. We can arrive from 4:00pm on Friday and leave after lunch on Sunday. For those of you who are new to SPRG, please find more information on our homepage (https://scottishprimate.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/). Our annual Burn meeting is a chance for all members to get together in the beautiful surroundings of The Burn, to discuss research that is going on within our group, and of course to walk, chat, play games, eat, drink, and be merry. You can find more details about the venue on their website (http://theburn.goodenough.ac.uk/). There will be a series of talks given throughout the weekend and one of the speakers could be you. These presentations do not need to be particularly formal talks - The Burn is a great place to discuss project plans or analyses in the works. *** Reply early to avoid disappointment *** Places are limited, so don't miss your chance. In the first instance, bookings are restricted to members and SPRG associates, which is everyone affiliated with one of the core SPRG universities. However, should places be left unclaimed by the middle of July, invitations will be opened to colleagues from further afield. The costs of staying at The Burn are heavily subsidised by the Charitable Trust, and so remain very reasonable. The price of attending the entire meeting, which includes room and meals, will be £160. Most rooms have only two or three beds. If you have preferences with whom you’d like to share your room, please let us know. We can offer some single bedrooms. However, because single occupancy rooms are limited in number, we will offer these on a first-come first-serve basis and we cannot guarantee that we can offer many of those. To register for the meeting, please send Manon an email at ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk until the 15th of July or as soon as possible as places are limited. Please use the subject header ‘SPRG Burn Meeting 2022’ and include the following details: Your name: With whom you’d like to share your room: (if any) If you’d rather have a single room: (yes/no) Affiliation and career stage: (e.g., St Andrews, PhD student) Dietary requirements: (if any) If you are interested in giving a talk: (yes/no) If you would like to give a presentation, please send Manon a Word file with the title, authors, affiliation(s), and a short abstract (200-300 words) until the 29th of July. We are very excited to seeing many of you at the next Burn meeting, Emma McEwen & Manon Schweinfurth P.s. (1): Many things happen in three years and after giving it a lot of thought, Dr Lara Wood had to step down from organising the meeting. We had the 2020 meeting ready to go and organised several postponed meetings, for which Lara has been instrumental. Emma and I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Lara for her work and positivity throughout the past years (!). We will miss our great meetings in St Andrews and Dundee and those on Teams. P.s. (2): Pls - please forward this e-mail to everybody who might be interested in joining our meeting. P.s. (3): If you know of anyone who would like to join our e-mail distribution list, please send them to Manon (ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk). *** Dates and deadlines in a nutshell *** Registration deadline: 15th of July Abstract deadline: 29th of July Burn meeting: 2nd – 4th September Lecturer, University of St Andrews School of Psychology & Neuroscience St Mary's Quad, St Andrews, KY16 9JP Office: E48 I Phone: +44 (0)1334 463460 Homepage<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmanon-schw…> I am a friend of the LGBTQIA+ community, ethnic minorities and under-represented groups in academia! ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

3 years, 1 month

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The Scottish SPCA is looking for volunteer literature reviewers

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Exciting opportunity! The Scottish SPCA is looking for volunteer literature reviewers to help contribute to their ethics and policy subcommittees. Please follow this link if you have an interest in animal welfare and veterinary science across farm, wild and companion animal subjects. https://volunteer.scottishspca.org/opportunities/33453-ethics-policy-commit…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvolunteer…> Some further information is below. Would you, or anyone you know, like to help shape Scottish SPCA policy? We are looking for volunteers to conduct literature reviews for our wildlife, farm animal and companion animal ethics and policy subcommittees. Applicants will support the remit of the main group which is: • to consider ethical implications of current and future policies and procedures and provide advice, guidance and recommendations; • to improve animal welfare in Scotland for companion, wild and farm animals through creation and adoption of appropriate guidelines; • to increase public awareness of what good animal welfare is; • to improve care provided through enhanced facilities and veterinary services to decrease issues regarding individual species. The workload and time commitment will be agreed between the volunteer and the subcommittee Chair(s) on an individual basis. The expectation is that the time commitment will usually involve around 10 hours per month, in order to support meaningful progress. Please share this with anyone who might be interested: https://volunteer.scottishspca.org/opportunities/33453-ethics-policy-commit…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvolunteer…> Lee-ann Howieson Public Affairs Advisor Scottish SPCA 03000 999 999 Public.Affairs(a)scottishspca.org<mailto:Public.Affairs@scottishspca.org> [Here For All Animals email sig] <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgfidisc.sc…> ________________________________ Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) Tel: 03000 999 999 www.scottishspca.org/join<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scotti…> www.scottishspca.org/rehoming<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scotti…> Scottish Charity No. SC 006467 This message is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please inform us and then delete it. If the content of this message does not relate to the business of the Scottish SPCA then it is neither from nor sanctioned by the Society. If you wish to report an incident involving an injured or distressed animal you must telephone our Animal Helpline on 03000 999 999. Please do not email the incident details as our Animal Helpline staff will have key questions to ask you. [http://www.scottishspca.org/mailfooter/LiveFooterImage.png] <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgfidisc.sc…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 2 months

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Fw: Burn Meeting: 2-4 September 2022 - registration

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Calling all SPRG primatologists! Please see details of the next SPRG meeting at the Burn below. It usually fills up quickly so reply soon to secure a place! Hannah ________________________________ From: Manon Schweinfurth <ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk> Sent: 22 June 2022 14:34 To: sprg(a)st-andrews.ac.uk <sprg(a)st-andrews.ac.uk> Cc: Emma McEwen <esm7(a)st-andrews.ac.uk>; Hannah Buchanan-Smith <h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: Burn Meeting: 2-4 September 2022 - registration CAUTION: This email originated from outside University of Stirling. Do not follow links or open attachments if you doubt the authenticity of the sender or the content. ________________________________ Dear all, The last Burn meeting (also known as the annual Scottish Primate Research Group ‘SPRG’ meeting) took place in 2019. The pandemic hit, field seasons had to be cancelled, and many in-person conferences, like our Burn meeting, too. However, the world looks a bit different now and we are thrilled to let you know that the next Burn meeting will go ahead, taking place from 2nd - 4th of September 2022 in ‘The Burn’. We can arrive from 4:00pm on Friday and leave after lunch on Sunday. For those of you who are new to SPRG, please find more information on our homepage (https://scottishprimate.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/). Our annual Burn meeting is a chance for all members to get together in the beautiful surroundings of The Burn, to discuss research that is going on within our group, and of course to walk, chat, play games, eat, drink, and be merry. You can find more details about the venue on their website (http://theburn.goodenough.ac.uk/). There will be a series of talks given throughout the weekend and one of the speakers could be you. These presentations do not need to be particularly formal talks - The Burn is a great place to discuss project plans or analyses in the works. *** Reply early to avoid disappointment *** Places are limited, so don't miss your chance. In the first instance, bookings are restricted to members and SPRG associates, which is everyone affiliated with one of the core SPRG universities. However, should places be left unclaimed by the middle of July, invitations will be opened to colleagues from further afield. The costs of staying at The Burn are heavily subsidised by the Charitable Trust, and so remain very reasonable. The price of attending the entire meeting, which includes room and meals, will be £160. Most rooms have only two or three beds. If you have preferences with whom you’d like to share your room, please let us know. We can offer some single bedrooms. However, because single occupancy rooms are limited in number, we will offer these on a first-come first-serve basis and we cannot guarantee that we can offer many of those. To register for the meeting, please send Manon an email at ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk until the 15th of July or as soon as possible as places are limited. Please use the subject header ‘SPRG Burn Meeting 2022’ and include the following details: Your name: With whom you’d like to share your room: (if any) If you’d rather have a single room: (yes/no) Affiliation and career stage: (e.g., St Andrews, PhD student) Dietary requirements: (if any) If you are interested in giving a talk: (yes/no) If you would like to give a presentation, please send Manon a Word file with the title, authors, affiliation(s), and a short abstract (200-300 words) until the 29th of July. We are very excited to seeing many of you at the next Burn meeting, Emma McEwen & Manon Schweinfurth P.s. (1): Many things happen in three years and after giving it a lot of thought, Dr Lara Wood had to step down from organising the meeting. We had the 2020 meeting ready to go and organised several postponed meetings, for which Lara has been instrumental. Emma and I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Lara for her work and positivity throughout the past years (!). We will miss our great meetings in St Andrews and Dundee and those on Teams. P.s. (2): Pls - please forward this e-mail to everybody who might be interested in joining our meeting. P.s. (3): If you know of anyone who would like to join our e-mail distribution list, please send them to Manon (ms397(a)st-andrews.ac.uk). *** Dates and deadlines in a nutshell *** Registration deadline: 15th of July Abstract deadline: 29th of July Burn meeting: 2nd – 4th September Dr Manon Schweinfurth (she/her) Lecturer, University of St Andrews School of Psychology & Neuroscience St Mary's Quad, St Andrews, KY16 9JP Office: E48 I Phone: +44 (0)1334 463460 Homepage<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmanon-schw…> I am a friend of the LGBTQIA+ community, ethnic minorities and under-represented groups in academia! ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 2 months

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Online workshop: Ethics of Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research for the 21st Century and Beyond!

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

May be of interest to some! Two day online workshop "Ethics of Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research for the 21st Century and Beyond!" on June 21-22, 2022. Registration deadline 17th June 2022. Free to ASAB members (£10 non-members) For more information: https://asabvirtual2020.wixsite.com/ethics<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fzuzor.smtp…> #animalethics ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 2 months

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FW: BERG seminar - Eva Reindl's paper

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear All, Some of you might be interested - please see below. Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ From: Zsuzsa Lugosi <zsuzsa.lugosi(a)stir.ac.uk> Sent: 27 May 2022 11:23 To: Pawel Fedurek <pawel.fedurek(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: BERG connections Hello Pawel, I was wondering if, once you are back, would you be able to send Eva Reindl's paper (attached) around for the BERGers? There was a really exciting discussion after Eva's talk, Bill offered to send some material to Eva also. Her email address is: eva.reindl(a)live.de Thank you! All the best, Zsuzsa ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 2 months

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BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Gema Martin-Ordas

Dear BERGers, This is just a reminder that today our own Shelley Culpepper is giving a seminar about her PhD study entitled "Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Abstract: Species are equipped with odour receptors adapted to perceive olfactory signals, helping them assess and adapt to corresponding ecological challenges, e.g. food acquisition, predator avoidance and mate selection (Niimura & Nei, 2006). Olfactory perception is crucial to the survival of prey species such as the horse (Equus caballus). Interestingly, although horses have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years, little research has been conducted on horse olfactory perception. Even less is known about the extent to which emotion-driven differences in odours emitted by humans may be perceived by and thus potentially affecting horses. Currently, only two studies have explored the horse’s olfactory perception of human emotions, and both only on two main emotions – each focusing on the horse’s response to human body odours emitted during the humans’ emotional experience of ‘fear’ and ‘happy’ (Lanata et al., 2018; Sabiniewicz et al., 2020). The current study will be a conceptual replication of Sabiniewicz et al (2020). Five men and five women Psychology students from University of Northampton will wear odour-collection pads while viewing short video clips associated with fear, happiness, and sadness. Fourteen Thoroughbred racehorses in the UK will then be individually exposed to each individual odour and behaviourally compared against Sabiniewicz and colleagues’ ethogram to assess the extent to which their behaviour varies in response to the emotion-driven differences in human body odour. These findings will provide further context to the two main current studies, contribute to scientific progress and integrity via a replication, and include an important additional methodological consideration via exploration of a third human emotion – sadness, which may also have practical implications. Enhancing our understanding of olfactory human-horse interactions could provide new ways to optimize their health and welfare (Merkies & Franzin, 2021). Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Gema ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00

by Gema Martin-Ordas

Dear BERGers, This is a quick reminder that this Wednesday (25 May), our own Shelley Culpepper will be giving a seminar about her PhD study entitled "Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Abstract: Species are equipped with odour receptors adapted to perceive olfactory signals, helping them assess and adapt to corresponding ecological challenges, e.g. food acquisition, predator avoidance and mate selection (Niimura & Nei, 2006). Olfactory perception is crucial to the survival of prey species such as the horse (Equus caballus). Interestingly, although horses have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years, little research has been conducted on horse olfactory perception. Even less is known about the extent to which emotion-driven differences in odours emitted by humans may be perceived by and thus potentially affecting horses. Currently, only two studies have explored the horse’s olfactory perception of human emotions, and both only on two main emotions – each focusing on the horse’s response to human body odours emitted during the humans’ emotional experience of ‘fear’ and ‘happy’ (Lanata et al., 2018; Sabiniewicz et al., 2020). The current study will be a conceptual replication of Sabiniewicz et al (2020). Five men and five women Psychology students from University of Northampton will wear odour-collection pads while viewing short video clips associated with fear, happiness, and sadness. Fourteen Thoroughbred racehorses in the UK will then be individually exposed to each individual odour and behaviourally compared against Sabiniewicz and colleagues’ ethogram to assess the extent to which their behaviour varies in response to the emotion-driven differences in human body odour. These findings will provide further context to the two main current studies, contribute to scientific progress and integrity via a replication, and include an important additional methodological consideration via exploration of a third human emotion – sadness, which may also have practical implications. Enhancing our understanding of olfactory human-horse interactions could provide new ways to optimize their health and welfare (Merkies & Franzin, 2021). Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Gema ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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UFAW LINK: Animalaw - Visions for the Future, On-line conference 18-22 July 2022

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

This conference may be of interest to some From: Stephen Wickens <wickens(a)ufaw.org.uk Dear Hannah, Animalaw - Visions for the Future UFAW is collaborating with A-LAW in the organisation of an online conference to celebrate the bicentenary anniversary of Martin’s Act 1822, the first national legislation to protect animals from cruel treatment in the world. To mark this special occasion, a panel of 40 distinguished speakers from across the globe, will be sharing their vision for the future of animal law in a series of talks over five days (18-22 July 2022). They will look at what we have achieved, and ask where do we go from here to strengthen animal law? Each day will focus on a different area. Day 1 (July 18th): "About the animal. Reflecting science in law" Day 2 (July 19th): "Historic and contemporary perspectives on animal law" Day 3 (July 20th): "National and international representation of animals" Day 4 (July 21st): Parallel sessions on "Agricultural systems" and "The legal framework supporting the best welfare and protection" Day 5 (July 22nd): "Education and young voices" The timetable for the conference, speaker details and link to register can be found @ MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "yxnjj.smtpurl.com" claiming to be https://www.martinsact200.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyxnjj.smtp…> We hope it looks of interest and would be grateful if you could share the details with your colleagues and students – and the attached posts on the conference. Thank you. Stephen Dr Stephen Wickens UFAW, The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Herts AL4 8AN, UK Email: wickens(a)ufaw.org.uk ; Direct Tel: +44(0)1276 500880; Office: +44(0)1582 831818 MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "c:" claiming to be www.ufaw.org.uk<C:\Users\Stephen%20Wickens\AppData\Local\Temp\~ed_sb_3\www.ufaw.org.uk> Hold the date: * Advancing animal welfare science<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyxnjj.smtp…> Virtual UFAW Animal Welfare Conference 28-29th June 2022 For further information about UFAW awards, scholarships, meetings and other news follow us on: Facebook: Universities Federation for Animal Welfare - UFAW<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyxnjj.smtp…> ; Twitter: @UFAW_1926<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyxnjj.smtp…> The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) is an UK charity that works to develop and promote improvements in the welfare of all animals through scientific and educational activity worldwide. Registered Charity No 207996 (Registered in England) and Company Limited by Guarantee No 579991 Science in the service of animal welfare To unsubscribe from further emails on this meeting, click here<mailto:wickens@ufaw.org.uk> and enter unsubscribe in the subject [UFAW Conference 2022]<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyxnjj.smtp…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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FW: BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Christine Caldwell

Dear BERGers, Quick reminder that today, Dr Eva Reindl (Durham University ) is giving a seminar for us about her research entitled "The structure of executive functions in preschool children and chimpanzees". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Abstract Humans are cognitively unique – but what are the abilities that underpin this uniqueness? One prominent explanation focuses on socio-cognitive abilities such as imitation, teaching, theory of mind, and prosociality. Another, complementary, suggestion is that modern humans differ in more domain-general cognitive mechanisms, namely Executive Functions. In this talk I will present a recent publication from our lab (Völter et al., 2022<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.natur…>) in which we studied and compared the structure of Executive Functions (specifically: working memory, inhibitory control, attention shifting) in 55 chimpanzees and 185 preschool children using a test battery of nine non-verbal, novel tasks. Research on human adults has demonstrated the elusive nature of executive functioning, with different labs identifying a different number and structure of latent factors underlying performance. Research on human children has tentatively pointed to a single common factor underlying performance in executive functions tasks. Our work adds to this perspective, finding some support for a 1-factor model explaining performance across tasks in both children and chimpanzees. I will discuss potential explanations for these results and briefly point to some ongoing further analyses of these data. About Eva: Eva is a postdoctoral research associate working with Prof Rachel Kendal, Prof Robert Barton (Durham University) and Dr Amanda Seed (University of St Andrews) on a project founded by the John Templeton Society investigating Sequence cognition in primates. She is broadly interested in learning which cognitive and social factors differentiate humans from other great apes. She is interested in sequence cognition, executive functions, social learning, cumulative culture, and tool use, among other topics. Eva completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Birmingham in 2017, working with Dr Claudio Tennie, Prof Sarah Beck, and Prof Ian Apperly on a project investigating the developmental origins of cumulative culture. After that, she held a teaching position at the School of Anthropology at the University of Oxford. In 2018, Eva moved to St Andrews to work as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr Amanda Seed on a project investigating the structure of executive functions in chimpanzees and human children. In 2021, Eva was a lecturer at Birmingham City University, before starting her current job at Durham University in 2022. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG meeting this week: Eva Reindl discusses executive functions

by Christine Caldwell

Dear BERGers, This is a quick reminder that this Wednesday (18 May), Dr Eva Reindl (Durham University) will be giving a seminar about her research entitled "The structure of executive functions in preschool children and chimpanzees". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Abstract Humans are cognitively unique - but what are the abilities that underpin this uniqueness? One prominent explanation focuses on socio-cognitive abilities such as imitation, teaching, theory of mind, and prosociality. Another, complementary, suggestion is that modern humans differ in more domain-general cognitive mechanisms, namely Executive Functions. In this talk I will present a recent publication from our lab (Völter et al., 2022) in which we studied and compared the structure of Executive Functions (specifically: working memory, inhibitory control, attention shifting) in 55 chimpanzees and 185 preschool children using a test battery of nine non-verbal, novel tasks. Research on human adults has demonstrated the elusive nature of executive functioning, with different labs identifying a different number and structure of latent factors underlying performance. Research on human children has tentatively pointed to a single common factor underlying performance in executive functions tasks. Our work adds to this perspective, finding some support for a 1-factor model explaining performance across tasks in both children and chimpanzees. I will discuss potential explanations for these results and briefly point to some ongoing further analyses of these data. About Eva: Eva is a postdoctoral research associate working with Prof Rachel Kendal, Prof Robert Barton (Durham University) and Dr Amanda Seed (University of St Andrews) on a project founded by the John Templeton Society investigating Sequence cognition in primates. She is broadly interested in learning which cognitive and social factors differentiate humans from other great apes. She is interested in sequence cognition, executive functions, social learning, cumulative culture, and tool use, among other topics. Eva completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Birmingham in 2017, working with Dr Claudio Tennie, Prof Sarah Beck, and Prof Ian Apperly on a project investigating the developmental origins of cumulative culture. After that, she held a teaching position at the School of Anthropology at the University of Oxford. In 2018, Eva moved to St Andrews to work as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr Amanda Seed on a project investigating the structure of executive functions in chimpanzees and human children. In 2021, Eva was a lecturer at Birmingham City University, before starting her current job at Durham University in 2022. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee… ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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Fw: In case anybody cares...

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear All, Some of you might be interested - please see below a message/paper from Alex that he sent after his seminar today. Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ From: WEISS ALEXANDER <alex.weiss(a)ed.ac.uk> Sent: 11 May 2022 17:24 To: Pawel Fedurek <pawel.fedurek(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: In case anybody cares... CAUTION: This email originated from outside University of Stirling. Do not follow links or open attachments if you doubt the authenticity of the sender or the content. ________________________________ Dear Pawel, Here's the article I mentioned. I've attached the html file in case anybody has problems with a paywall (I am not). https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-tru…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theat…> Best, Alex The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336. ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, A reminder that today, Dr Alexander Weiss (University of Edinburgh) is giving a seminar about his new paper entitled "Dominance in Human Personality Space and in Hominoid Phylogeny". Please see the abstract below. I am also attaching the accepted paper that Alex has kindly shared with us. Link to the meeting and a list of the forthcoming seminars are below this email. Hope to see you later! Abstract: Unlike nonhuman primates, individual differences between humans in dominance do not appear as broad personality factors. This may be attributable to differences between the questionnaires used to study human and nonhuman primate personality. Alternatively, this may reflect a difference in the organization of personality in humans and nonhuman primates. To determine which of these two possibilities was most likely 1147 participants were asked to rate their personality and/or that of somebody else on the Hominoid Personality Questionnaire (HPQ), which has been used to study nonhuman primate personality. A large subset of these participants (~80%) also completed self- and/or rater reports of one of three questionnaires used to measure human personality. Exploratory factor analyses of HPQ rater report data yielded five factors. These factors correlated mostly in expected ways with scales from questionnaires used to study human personality. Exploratory factor analyses of HPQ self-report data yielded no clear number of factors and no consistent evidence with respect to the presence of a dominance factor. Subsequent analyses compared HPQ scales that represented dominance factors in chimpanzees, bonobos, mountain gorillas, and orangutans, to scales derived from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, including Fearless Dominance, which combined Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion facets, Emotional Stability (the inverse of Neuroticism), and Extraversion’s Assertiveness facet. Fearless Dominance was most like the great ape dominance factors. The absence of human dominance factors, therefore, appears to reflect present or past social conditions of our species. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh Dominance in Human Personality Space and in Hominoid Phylogeny 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC, investigating executive functions in children and chimps 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, This is a quick reminder that this Wednesday (11 May), Dr Alexander Weiss (University of Edinburgh) will be giving a seminar about his new paper entitled "Dominance in Human Personality Space and in Hominoid Phylogeny". Please see the abstract below. I am also attaching the accepted paper that Alex has kindly shared with us. Link to the meeting and a list of the forthcoming seminars are below this email. Hope to see you on Wednesday! Abstract: Unlike nonhuman primates, individual differences between humans in dominance do not appear as broad personality factors. This may be attributable to differences between the questionnaires used to study human and nonhuman primate personality. Alternatively, this may reflect a difference in the organization of personality in humans and nonhuman primates. To determine which of these two possibilities was most likely 1147 participants were asked to rate their personality and/or that of somebody else on the Hominoid Personality Questionnaire (HPQ), which has been used to study nonhuman primate personality. A large subset of these participants (~80%) also completed self- and/or rater reports of one of three questionnaires used to measure human personality. Exploratory factor analyses of HPQ rater report data yielded five factors. These factors correlated mostly in expected ways with scales from questionnaires used to study human personality. Exploratory factor analyses of HPQ self-report data yielded no clear number of factors and no consistent evidence with respect to the presence of a dominance factor. Subsequent analyses compared HPQ scales that represented dominance factors in chimpanzees, bonobos, mountain gorillas, and orangutans, to scales derived from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, including Fearless Dominance, which combined Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion facets, Emotional Stability (the inverse of Neuroticism), and Extraversion’s Assertiveness facet. Fearless Dominance was most like the great ape dominance factors. The absence of human dominance factors, therefore, appears to reflect present or past social conditions of our species. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh Dominance in Human Personality Space and in Hominoid Phylogeny 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC, investigating executive functions in children and chimps 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, A reminder that today, Dr Laura Lewis (Harvard University) is giving a seminar about her comparative research on chimpanzee and bonobo cognition. Please find the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Hope to see you later! Abstract: "Humans have remarkable adaptations for processing and participating in intricately complex social groups. Foundational among them are our abilities to identify and differentiate between unique individuals, our long-term memory for social affiliates, and our ability to comprehend social language. Despite the centrality of these skills to human social life, we know relatively little about their evolutionary origins in our primate lineage. Humans’ closest relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, live in large social groups of up to 150 individuals but often range in smaller foraging parties that change in social composition throughout the day (i.e., fission-fusion dynamics). Consequently, they too would greatly benefit from these social cognitive skills. Importantly, the similarities and differences in the socioecology of chimpanzees and bonobos allow us to test competing hypotheses about the selective pressures that heightened humans’ sensitivity to group membership and drove the evolution of our complex sociality and language capacities. By studying these species’ socio-cognitive abilities and patterns, this dissertation aims to clarify the extent to which the cognitive foundations of humans’ social relationships are shared with our closest relatives and were likely already present in our last common ancestor. Utilizing non-invasive eye-tracking technology to explore social attention, long-term social memory, and socially referential language comprehension in chimpanzees and bonobos, this dissertation sheds light on the phylogenetic precursors of human social cognition and the selective pressures that led to the evolution of our uniquely sophisticated social environments.” Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo and chimpanzee cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, Quick reminder that this Wednesday (4 May), Dr Laura Lewis (Harvard University) will be giving a seminar about her comparative research on chimpanzee and bonobo cognition. Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Hope to see you on Wednesday! Abstract: "Humans have remarkable adaptations for processing and participating in intricately complex social groups. Foundational among them are our abilities to identify and differentiate between unique individuals, our long-term memory for social affiliates, and our ability to comprehend social language. Despite the centrality of these skills to human social life, we know relatively little about their evolutionary origins in our primate lineage. Humans’ closest relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, live in large social groups of up to 150 individuals but often range in smaller foraging parties that change in social composition throughout the day (i.e., fission-fusion dynamics). Consequently, they too would greatly benefit from these social cognitive skills. Importantly, the similarities and differences in the socioecology of chimpanzees and bonobos allow us to test competing hypotheses about the selective pressures that heightened humans’ sensitivity to group membership and drove the evolution of our complex sociality and language capacities. By studying these species’ socio-cognitive abilities and patterns, this dissertation aims to clarify the extent to which the cognitive foundations of humans’ social relationships are shared with our closest relatives and were likely already present in our last common ancestor. Utilizing non-invasive eye-tracking technology to explore social attention, long-term social memory, and socially referential language comprehension in chimpanzees and bonobos, this dissertation sheds light on the phylogenetic precursors of human social cognition and the selective pressures that led to the evolution of our uniquely sophisticated social environments.” Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo and chimpanzee cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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Seeking Dog Behaviour Experts

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

[cid:5a60abec-5a32-4cae-aef9-b237dced133e] Dear BERGers I am emailing to ask if you would participate in our survey / share our survey with your relevant networks. We are exploring the topic of psychological trauma in dogs and the potential effect that psychological trauma may have on dog behaviour and welfare. This research will allow us to document the potential impacts that psychological trauma may have on dogs, which may additionally impact their owners and the community. This survey is open to dog behaviour/psychology experts. Participants must currently work in the field of dog behaviour or dog psychology and have a qualification of at least a Bachelor’s degree in the field of animal behaviour or animal psychology. The survey is available in three languages, English, Italian or Japanese, and is expected to take around 25 minutes to complete. This is a collaboration between researchers at The University of Queensland (AUS), the University of Stirling (UK), the University of Lincoln (UK), and RSPCA Australia (AUS). This study has ethical approval from the University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee (#2022_HE000131). We would also very much appreciate if you could share our survey with your professional network so that we can capture a wide range of views from experts in this field. Your time and support are appreciated. The survey is available at this link: https://tinyurl.com/ProjectElevateSurvey and by using the QR code in the survey poster. Best wishes and thanks, Hannah, on behalf of the research team University of Queensland: Prof Alan Tilbrook, Dr Tamsin Barnes, Dr Ella Kuskoff, Dr Kris Descovich University of Stirling: Prof Hannah Buchanan-Smith University of Lincoln: Prof Daniel Mills RSPCA Australia: Dr Sarah Zito If useful, our social media survey posts can be shared from here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/KrisDescovich/status/1517788586061426688 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kris.descovich/posts/10163730448958125 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6923558416305057792/ Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk> Home page: <https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/person/11925> https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/257464 http://marmosetcare.com/ Animal Welfare 24/7 across the lifespan<https://animalconcepts.mykajabi.com/247approachtopromotingoptimalwelfarefor…> https://nc3rs.org.uk/housing-and-husbandry-dogs ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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Kept Animals Bill - interesting tender opportunity

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Defra has issued a research tender to develop the associated 'zoo-level' primate standards to the Kept Animals Bill that is going through parliament: The development of species specific guidance for primate standards for specialist keepers<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.contr…>. Closing date is 31 May. The contract is for one year and offers £60,000 to £75,000. Please follow links if interested to learn mor - or fire on to others who might be interested. ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 3 months

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BERG seminar today, 17:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, Just a reminder that today, Andre Pereira (Exeter University) is giving a seminar about his PhD project entitled "The evolution of kinship composition in mammals". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Please note that due to the faculty research day, today's seminar will take place at 17:00 rather than 16:00. Hope to see you later! Abstract All else being equal, cooperating with kin results in overall larger inclusive fitness benefits than with non-kin. Animals can live with kin, non-kin or both, and this kinship composition can thus influence the benefits and costs of group-living and the evolution of within-group cooperation. Yet, the kinship composition of mammalian groups remains uncharacterised. We characterised the taxonomic representation and evolutionary trajectory of kinship composition in mammals using pedigree data from the literature. We found that the ancestors shared by the 18 species in our sample likely lived with kin for most of their evolutionary history. However, we found that only roughly half of the 18 species lived in groups where all same-sex individuals were related, whereas the other half lived in groups where same-sex individuals featured kin and non-kin. Because it is not obvious why individuals might live with non-kin, these results spurred two questions: 1) When might group-members benefit from living with non-kin? 2) How might groups that feature non-kin arise from groups that only feature related individuals? To answer the first question, we used an analytical model to calculate the theoretical optimal kin to non-kin ratio for a group according to the benefits that non-kin provide. Overall, we found that living with some non-kin is beneficial when non-kin provide benefits that are larger than the benefits from inclusive fitness of the potential kin they displace. For the second question, we used agent-based models to simulate a scenario in which group-members might need to increase group size and we explored under what conditions recruiting immigrant non-kin is beneficial. Overall, our results indicated that recruiting unrelated immigrants is beneficial when distance to optimal group size is large and most potential immigrants are unrelated to group-members. Our findings indicate that living with a mixture of kin and non-kin is not rare in mammals and that non-kin can be valuable group-members, further highlighting the importance of considering both indirect and direct fitness benefits as co-drivers of the evolution of sociality. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter The evolution of kinship composition in mammals 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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BERG seminar, Wednesday at 17:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, Quick reminder that this Wednesday (27 April), Andre Pereira (Exeter University) will be giving a seminar about his PhD project entitled "The evolution of kinship composition in mammals". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Please note that due to the faculty research day, the seminar will take place at 17:00 rather than 16:00. Hope to see you on Wednesday! Abstract All else being equal, cooperating with kin results in overall larger inclusive fitness benefits than with non-kin. Animals can live with kin, non-kin or both, and this kinship composition can thus influence the benefits and costs of group-living and the evolution of within-group cooperation. Yet, the kinship composition of mammalian groups remains uncharacterised. We characterised the taxonomic representation and evolutionary trajectory of kinship composition in mammals using pedigree data from the literature. We found that the ancestors shared by the 18 species in our sample likely lived with kin for most of their evolutionary history. However, we found that only roughly half of the 18 species lived in groups where all same-sex individuals were related, whereas the other half lived in groups where same-sex individuals featured kin and non-kin. Because it is not obvious why individuals might live with non-kin, these results spurred two questions: 1) When might group-members benefit from living with non-kin? 2) How might groups that feature non-kin arise from groups that only feature related individuals? To answer the first question, we used an analytical model to calculate the theoretical optimal kin to non-kin ratio for a group according to the benefits that non-kin provide. Overall, we found that living with some non-kin is beneficial when non-kin provide benefits that are larger than the benefits from inclusive fitness of the potential kin they displace. For the second question, we used agent-based models to simulate a scenario in which group-members might need to increase group size and we explored under what conditions recruiting immigrant non-kin is beneficial. Overall, our results indicated that recruiting unrelated immigrants is beneficial when distance to optimal group size is large and most potential immigrants are unrelated to group-members. Our findings indicate that living with a mixture of kin and non-kin is not rare in mammals and that non-kin can be valuable group-members, further highlighting the importance of considering both indirect and direct fitness benefits as co-drivers of the evolution of sociality. Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter The evolution of kinship composition in mammals 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Eva Reindl Durham University TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, This is a quick reminder that today our own Gema is giving a talk about our project on p value reporting in the primate tool use literature. See you later! Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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Research Culture Awards - please tell Stirling colleagues their value!

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Before Tuesday 19th April please consider spending ~5 minutes to let a colleague/s know their research culture value.... Nominations can now be made at this open<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstir.us19…> link. More details below. Festival of Research 2022 - Research Culture Awards The Festival of Research 2022 programme will once again feature the Research Culture Awards, with co-hosts Prof Rachel Norman (Dean for Research Engagement and Performance, and Prof Eddie Duncan (Associate Dean for Research Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport and Research Environment Group Chair) on Friday 27 May 2pm-3.30pm. Nominations are open<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstir.us19…> until 19 April and can be made across the following 7 categories: • Outstanding research leadership • Outstanding collaborator • Outstanding support from professional services • Outstanding mentor  • Outstanding early career researcher • Outstanding activity dedicated to enhancing research culture • Outstanding research activity dedicated to equality, diversity and inclusion For full info see the Festival of Research webpage<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstir.us19…>. Hope you all get a good break! Hannah Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk> Home page: <https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/person/11925> https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/257464 http://marmosetcare.com/ Animal Welfare 24/7 across the lifespan<https://animalconcepts.mykajabi.com/247approachtopromotingoptimalwelfarefor…> https://nc3rs.org.uk/housing-and-husbandry-dogs ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, Today, Dr Bruce Rawlings (Durham University) is giving a seminar entitled "To copy or create: individual, group and species differences in imitation and innovation". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. See you later! Abstract Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), the improvement of cultural traits over generations via social transmission, is widely believed to be one of humans’ most defining characteristics. Our capacity to build upon others' knowledge, technologies, and skills has produced the most diverse and sophisticated technological repertoire in the animal kingdom. And while other animals such as chimpanzees display impressive cultural diversity, humans stand alone in the extent to which our culture is cumulative. Key to CCE is the interplay between innovation and imitation. Innovations generate new, improved behaviours and skills, while imitation allows for their uptake through social transmission. In my research, I study the individual, group, and species differences in innovative and imitative propensities. In this talk, I will discuss a series of experiments where I find differences and similarities across species in whether, and how, factors such as age, sex, personality, sociality, and flexibility predict children’s and chimpanzees’ propensity to engage in innovation and/or imitation. I will also discuss some ongoing work investigating the development of innovation and (over)imitation cross culturally, where we have collected data on around 1200 children in 14 international populations. Best wishes, Pawel BERG seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University TBC, cumulative culture 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, A reminder that this Wednesday (13 April), Dr Bruce Rawlings (Durham University) will be giving a seminar entitled "To copy or create: individual, group and species differences in imitation and innovation". Please see the abstract, and the link to the meeting, below. Hope to see you on Wednesday! Abstract Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), the improvement of cultural traits over generations via social transmission, is widely believed to be one of humans’ most defining characteristics. Our capacity to build upon others' knowledge, technologies, and skills has produced the most diverse and sophisticated technological repertoire in the animal kingdom. And while other animals such as chimpanzees display impressive cultural diversity, humans stand alone in the extent to which our culture is cumulative. Key to CCE is the interplay between innovation and imitation. Innovations generate new, improved behaviours and skills, while imitation allows for their uptake through social transmission. In my research, I study the individual, group, and species differences in innovative and imitative propensities. In this talk, I will discuss a series of experiments where I find differences and similarities across species in whether, and how, factors such as age, sex, personality, sociality, and flexibility predict children’s and chimpanzees’ propensity to engage in innovation and/or imitation. I will also discuss some ongoing work investigating the development of innovation and (over)imitation cross culturally, where we have collected data on around 1200 children in 14 international populations. Best wishes, Pawel Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University o copy or create: individual, group and species differences in imitation and innovation 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Sabrina Brando University of Stirling TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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BERG seminar today, 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, A quick reminder that today Dr Stuart Watson (University of Zurich) is giving a seminar entitled "From meaningful meerkats to pattern-processing primates: cross-species insights to the problem of language evolution". Abstract: Language is a uniquely powerful, and uniquely human, means of communication. However, the narrow historical window of language we have access to makes determining the ‘whens’, ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of its origins challenging. A broad, cross-species comparative approach is necessary to identify precisely which features of language are indeed unique, and which are shared with our animal cousins, thereby shedding light on their evolutionary history. Towards this end, here I will present findings from two recent studies investigating: (a) the underlying ‘meaning’ of the functionally referential alarm calls in wild meerkats using a 'model predator' experiment and (b) the shared capacity to process syntax-like acoustic structures in monkeys, apes and humans using an ’artificial grammar' experiment. See you later! The link to the meeting, as well as a list of the forthcoming speakers, are below this email. Best wishes, Pawel Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 06/04/2022 16:00 Stuart Watson University of Zurich From meaningful meerkats to pattern-processing primates: cross-species insights to the problem of language evolution 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University TBC, cumulative culture 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Sabrina Brando University of Stirling TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling Interspecific Olfactory Perception of Human Emotions: From the Horses Perspective ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00

by Pawel Fedurek

Dear BERGers, A quick reminder that this Wednesday (7 April), Dr Stuart Watson (University of Zurich) will be giving a seminar entitled "From meaningful meerkats to pattern-processing primates: cross-species insights to the problem of language evolution". Abstract: Language is a uniquely powerful, and uniquely human, means of communication. However, the narrow historical window of language we have access to makes determining the ‘whens’, ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of its origins challenging. A broad, cross-species comparative approach is necessary to identify precisely which features of language are indeed unique, and which are shared with our animal cousins, thereby shedding light on their evolutionary history. Towards this end, here I will present findings from two recent studies investigating: (a) the underlying ‘meaning’ of the functionally referential alarm calls in wild meerkats using a 'model predator' experiment and (b) the shared capacity to process syntax-like acoustic structures in monkeys, apes and humans using an ’artificial grammar' experiment. Hope to see you all on Wednesday! The link to the meeting, as well as a list of the forthcoming speakers, are below this email. Best wishes, Pawel Link to the meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.mic…> Forthcoming seminars: Date Time Speaker Affiliation Seminar title 06/04/2022 16:00 Stuart Watson University of Zurich TBC, animal social learning 13/04/2022 16:00 Bruce Rawlings Durham University TBC, cumulative culture 20/04/2022 16:00 Gema Martin-Ordas University of Stirling TBC, reporting p values in primate tool use research 27/04/2022 16:00 André Pereira University of Exeter TBC 04/05/2022 16:00 Laura Lewis Harvard University TBC, bonobo cognition 11/05/2022 16:00 Alexander Weiss University of Edinburgh TBC 18/05/2022 16:00 Sabrina Brando University of Stirling TBC 25/05/2022 16:00 Shelley Culpepper University of Stirling TBC ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ The University achieved an overall 5 stars in the QS World University Rankings 2020 UK Sports University of the Year 2020 (Times Higher Good University Guide) The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159.

3 years, 4 months

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