- BERG - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

Fw: Burn meeting: 2-4 September 2022 – registration deadline extended
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 15 Jul '22

15 Jul '22

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

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The Scottish SPCA is looking for volunteer literature reviewers
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 24 Jun '22

24 Jun '22

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.

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Fw: Burn Meeting: 2-4 September 2022 - registration
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 22 Jun '22

22 Jun '22

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.

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Online workshop: Ethics of Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research for the 21st Century and Beyond!
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 13 Jun '22

13 Jun '22

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.

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FW: BERG seminar - Eva Reindl's paper
by Pawel Fedurek 30 May '22

30 May '22

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.

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BERG seminar today, 16:00
by Gema Martin-Ordas 23 May '22

23 May '22

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.

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BERG seminar, Wednesday 16:00
by Gema Martin-Ordas 20 May '22

20 May '22

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.

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UFAW LINK: Animalaw - Visions for the Future, On-line conference 18-22 July 2022
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 18 May '22

18 May '22

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.

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FW: BERG seminar today, 16:00
by Christine Caldwell 18 May '22

18 May '22

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.

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BERG meeting this week: Eva Reindl discusses executive functions
by Christine Caldwell 17 May '22

17 May '22

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.

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