Dear all, On Wednesday this week at 4pm, Francesca de Petrillo (Newcastle University) will be talking about decision making in primates. Please, see below the title and short abstract for her talk. This meeting will be online (link below). How does decision-making evolve? A comparative analysis of primate choices Abstract: Both human and non-human animals face a myriad of choices every day: what food to eat, where to spend their time, and with whom to mate or to interact with. Comparative studies of decision-making have revealed important variability across different species’ decision-making strategies. What governs the variation in decision-making strategies seen across the natural world? To answer this question, I will present a series of comparative studies examining decision-making under risk, probabilistic reasoning, and cognitive control in tufted capuchin monkeys, rhesus macaques and lemurs, respectively. The results of these studies suggest that ecological complexity consistently predicts differences across species’ decision strategies and cognitive abilities, thereby highlighting how comparative studies can provide critical insights into the evolutionary contexts that favor some kinds of decision-making strategies over others. Best, Gema Schedule for future meetings: Date Time Speaker Topic Location 16/11/2022 4pm Stephen Ferrigno (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA) Origins of human thought Online 23/11/2022 4pm Sarah Weir (University of Stirling) TBC Online 30/11/2022 4pm Sabrina Brando (University of Stirling) cancelled 07/12/2022 4pm Gloria Sabbatini (Istc-CNR Unit of Cognitive Primatology & Primate Center, Italy) Tool use in primates Online 14/12/2022 3pm Elias Garcia Pelegrin (University of Cambridge, UK) Crows and understanding of magic tricks Online Link to the online meetings: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3A9823d93069124396a7a40d99c8272bea%40thread.tacv2%2F1632727356535%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%25224e8d09f7-cc79-4ccb-9149-a4238dd17422%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25221a69c354-6581-4fd4-8530-c53f9ead0876%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=2c2c7134-d960-4963-8397-8f77c1847189&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fdl%2Flauncher%2Flauncher.html%3Furl%3D%252F_%2523%252Fl%252Fmeetup-join%252F19%253A9823d93069124396a7a40d99c8272bea%2540thread.tacv2%252F1632727356535%253Fcontext%253D%25257b%252522Tid%252522%25253a%2525224e8d09f7-cc79-4ccb-9149-a4238dd17422%252522%25252c%252522Oid%252522%25253a%2525221a69c354-6581-4fd4-8530-c53f9ead0876%252522%25257d%2526anon%253Dtrue%26type%3Dmeetup-join%26deeplinkId%3D2c2c7134-d960-4963-8397-8f77c1847189%26directDl%3Dtrue%26msLaunch%3Dtrue%26enableMobilePage%3Dtrue%26suppressPrompt%3Dtrue&data=05%7C01%7Cgema.martin-ordas%40stir.ac.uk%7Cce6691def756472b609a08da229b7c94%7C4e8d09f7cc794ccb9149a4238dd17422%7C0%7C0%7C637860348486430638%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=GRAdfWPyttuHwPXBR8%2BzBTUnbyCAdjRxE81Alsh5Z6c%3D&reserved=0> ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159