Hi all,
Just writing to follow-up on yesterday's discussion of the replication crises. I know that a few of you expressed interest in this topic but were unable to attend, so I thought it might be worth mentioning a few interesting points/resources.
First of all, thanks to all who attended- it was really great to hear your thoughts on this! We all agreed that the Spellman paper (circulated on Tuesday) was a highly readable and reasonably comprehensive summary of the issues and potential solutions (so, well worth a read). Liz Renner brought our attention to some reproducibility issues within the field of oxytocin research. Interestingly, these problems were identified when a research group decided to critical?ly examine their own published work and open their file drawer. Some links here:
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/4/11348288/oxytocin-love-hormonehttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jne.12384/abstract?campaign=wola…
Becky Sharman discussed her own efforts to replicate a curious perceptual effect and she has successfully published these findings in the Royal Society's new OA journal (link here: http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/12/150418.abstract).<http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/12/150418.abstract> Becky has kindly provided a lay summary of this work for those interested (see postscript).
So, thanks again to all for such an interesting discussion! Next week we have Dr. Vicky Fishlock talking to us about her work at Amboseli National Park. It is going to be great!
All the best,
Eoin
?
PS: Lay- summary of Mather & Sharman (2015)
The implied motion after effect occurs when adapting to still images of motion e.g. someone running causes the same kind of after-effect as looking at actual moving stimuli. We showed that this effect is only present when participants are asked to make a directional judgement (i.e. are the dots moving left or right), but isn't present when they are asked to make a non-directional judgement (i.e. is the top or bottom half of the stimulus moving). The stimuli were exactly the same, only the instructions and the subsequent results were different.
Please find attached the UFAW newsletter (UFAW kindly fund our BERG seminars) and note the "save the date" for next year's UFAW conference (27-29 June, 2017).
From: "Stephen Wickens" <wickens(a)ufaw.org.uk<mailto:wickens@ufaw.org.uk>>
To: "Hannah Buchanan-Smith" <h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk>>
Subject: UFAW newsletter Spring 2016
Dear Hannah,
Please find attached the latest UFAW newsletter. We'd be grateful if you could share it with interested collegues and students.
Please be aware that the UFAW 2016 meeting at York is now fully booked (our maximum number is 180). For those who still hope to attend we are running a waiting list but there are a number on this list now so the chances of all getting a place are remote. Our 2017 meeting venue can hold upto 400 so we don't foresee this issue next year and hope that you might consider attending. It's already attracting a lot of interest.
Kind regards,
Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Stephen Wickens
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Herts AL4 8AN, UK
Email: wickens(a)ufaw.org.uk<mailto:wickens@ufaw.org.uk>
Direct Tel: +44(0)1276 500880; Office: +44(0)1582 831818 (tel), 831414 (fax)
MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "c:" claiming to be www.ufaw.org.uk<C:\Users\Steve\AppData\Local\Temp\~ed_sb_3\www.ufaw.org.uk>
Save the date: "Measuring animal welfare and applying scientific advances - Why is it still so difficult?"
UFAW International Symposium 27-29th June 2017, Royal Holloway, University of London, Surrey, UK.
Facebook: Universities Federation for Animal Welfare - UFAW<http://www.facebook.com/ufaw.org.uk> ; Twitter: @UFAW_1926<https://twitter.com/ufaw_1926>
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
Dear BERGers,
We don't have a speaker scheduled this week so we have a nice opportunity to discuss a topic Louise Heron touched upon in her discussion of the "watching eyes effect" last week. As many of you know, there is currently a lot of discussion in the field of psychology (and other scientific fields) about the reliability of supposedly well established psychological phenomena. Much of the debate has focussed on the field of social psychology, but the practices thought to contribute to this "replication crisis" seem to be equally common in many areas of animal research/evolutionary psychology/etc (e.g. underpowered studies, file drawer problem, overreliance on null hypothesis testing, etc.). With this in mind, it might be interesting to discuss some of these factors from the perspective of our own fields. If you would like some more information on this topic here is a short news article which provides plenty of links to other resources:
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/psychologys-replication-…
I have also attached a recent article (Spellman, 2015), and see below for a few questions we might talk around:
1. Could your field face a "replication crisis"?
2. What are the hurdles preventing reliable research and what can we do to overcome them?
3. Is there an important finding in your field that you have found difficult to replicate? Have you published it? If not- why?
4. If you were to organise a "Reproducibility Project" what studies/effects should be considered (https://osf.io/ezcuj/wiki/home/)?
As usual, we will be meeting from 5:20pm in the psychology common room. I look forward to seeing you there!
All the best,
Eoin
Dear BERGers,
This week we have Stirling PhD student Louise Heron presenting a talk entitled:
'Casting a critical eye on the "watching eyes effect": A discussion and exploration into the robustness of the watching eyes phenomenon'
As usual, we will be meeting in the psychology common room from 5:20 pm. I look forward to seeing you then.
Eoin
Dear all,
This week our BERG meeting is of particular interest to 3rd year undergraduate students who are thinking about doing a dissertation project on animal behaviour next semester. Blair Drummond's Research Coordinator, Alasdair Gillies, will be speaking to us about dissertation projects that will be available at the Safari Park.
We will be meeting from 5.20 in the Psychology Common Room, and I look forward to seeing you there!
Also, there have been a few changes to this semester's schedule, so please find an updated outline attached. We now have a free slot on Wednesday, April 6th, so if anyone would like to present on this date please let me know.
All the best,
Eoin
Dear all,
Our scheduled speaker, Dr. Emily Reed Burdett, cannot make our meeting this week (but we are hoping to reschedule her for another week- watch this space!); however, we are very pleased to have Stirling's Dr. Caroline Allen presenting a talk entitled:
"Preparation for fatherhood: Investigating the role of olfactory communication during pregnancy. "
As usual, we will be meeting in the Psychology Common Room from 5:15pm. I look forward to seeing you then!
Eoin
PS If you want to present a talk/poster at the Scottish Conference on Animal Behaviour please submit a title to s.m.daoudi1(a)stir.ac.uk by Friday (18th March). More details here: https://scab2016.wordpress.com/?
In case of interest to some – noting that these are voluntary positions, but former students who have done them have gone on into successful zoo careers.
From: Liz Ball [mailto:l.ball@chesterzoo.org]
Sent: 14 March 2016 10:35
Subject: One-Year Internships at Chester Zoo
Dear Colleagues
Please find attached the advertisement for our One-Year Internships in Animal Husbandry commencing on Monday 12 September 2016 at the North of England Zoological Society (Chester Zoo). Also attached are the advertisement and application form for our One-year Internships in Botany & Horticulture.
These Internships offer students the opportunity to gain both practical experience working alongside trained Zoo keepers/Horticulturists & Botanists within a unique scientific/conservation environment, and also a series of theoretical workshops covering a wide range of zoo management issues.
It is important to note that despite the duration of these Internships, they are entirely voluntary, so students must have organised financial provision prior to undertaking this year.
I would be grateful if you would make the attached application form available to all relevant students.
Many thanks.
Best wishes.
Liz
Liz Ball
Registrar's Assistant and Records Coordinator
+44(0)1244 389753
www.chesterzoo.org<http://www.chesterzoo.org>
[Chester Zoo]<http://www.chesterzoo.org/global/sig-redirect>
Cedar House, Caughall Road, Upton by Chester, Chester CH2 1LH
01244 380280. Chester Zoo is a registered conservation and education charity.
Our charity number is 306077.
[http://www.chesterzoo.org/~/media/images/email-footers/social-icons/faceboo…]<https://www.facebook.com/chesterzoo1>
[http://www.chesterzoo.org/~/media/images/email-footers/social-icons/gplus.g…]<%20https:/plus.google.com/+chesterzoo>
[http://www.chesterzoo.org/~/media/images/email-footers/social-icons/twitter…]<https://twitter.com/chesterzoo>
[http://www.chesterzoo.org/~/media/images/email-footers/social-icons/youtube…]<https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialChesterZoo>
[http://www.chesterzoo.org/~/media/images/email-footers/social-icons/flickr.…]<http://www.flickr.com/photos/chesterzoo>
[http://www.chesterzoo.org/~/media/images/email-footers/social-icons/instagr…]<https://instagram.com/chesterzoo/>
________________________________
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The North of England Zoological Society, a private company limited by guarantee in England and Wales, with company number: 00287902, registered office: Cedar House, Zoological Gardens, Caughall Road, Upton-by-Chester, Chester, CH2 1LH, registered charity number: 306077.
________________________________
SCAB will be 2 April - all welcome (£20 for the day). Posters and presentations welcome...
Please register with Sophia!
P
Phyllis C. Lee
Professor of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
School of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA
UK
Direct line +44 (0)1786 467656
Mobile +44 (0)7802 427132
SCAB: Details of the Scottish Conference for Animal Behaviour will be circulated when a date has been set, but this will be held in Stirling this year. This conference is student focussed and is a great place to get feedback on projects that are ongoing, in planning stages, etc.
ISHE: The biannual conference of the International Society for Human Ethology is also in Stirling this August. We will announce deadlines for abstract submissions when these are known but keep an eye on this website for more information: http://ishe.org/conferences-and-summer-institutes/
ESC: The European Student Conference on Behaviour and Cognition is in St. Andrews this March (17th-18th). More information can be found here (https://esc2016standrews.wordpress.com/); deadline for abstracts for student talks is the 1st of February.
EHBEA: The annual conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association is in London from 5th-8th April. The deadline for abstract submissions has passed, but they provide student travel bursaries even if not presenting; website here: http://ehbea.com/conference2016/
ASAB: The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour is having their Easter meeting at Aberystwth University, 30th March- 1st April. This conference is aimed at postgraduates and post-docs, so a great opportunity for early career researchers to present their work. Abstract deadline is March 9th: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/events/asab2016/
PSGB: The Primate Society of Great Britain is also hosting their Easter meeting at the end of March in York. More information here: http://www.psgb.org/meetings.php
UFAW: Hannah has already circulated information on the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare conference in June, but here is a reminder: http://www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-events/recent-advances-v
I hope that some of this will be helpful.
All the best,
Eoin
Dear BERGers
Never thought I'd say this, but looking at the BERG Facebook page, and hearing recent reports and photos from the SPRG meeting at the Burn, I am sad to be in California missing out on so much amazing stuff back home!
https://www.facebook.com/Behaviour-and-Evolution-Research-Group-at-Universi…
Laura Hall (laura.hall(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:laura.hall@stir.ac.uk>) and Eoin O'Sullivan (eoin.osullivan(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:eoin.osullivan@stir.ac.uk> ) post to our BERG Facebook page - so please check it out, and when you get a paper published, win a prize, give a talk, or have anything else worth sharing, please send an e-mail to request that Laura or Eoin add a post.
[https://ac3d197e9505f18c50e0-32b9f49f48b2c22be12b40ee79e2acc4.ssl.cf1.rackc…]
We also have BERG Twitter: https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling
Hope you are all going well!
Many thanks, Hannah
Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith
Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)
Psychology, School of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland
Tel: 01786 467674
Fax: 01786 467641
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/11925http://marmosetcare.com/http://www.247animalwelfare.eu/index.html
Dear all,
Tomorrow we have BERG's own Sophia Daoudi talking to us about:
"Enclosure use by two mixed-species groups of monkeys at Living Links, Edinburgh Zoo".
I look forward to seeing you in the psychology common room from 5:20pm as usual.
Eoin