Greater Toronto Area Animal Cognition Group
Welcome to the GTA Animal Cognition Group
We are an interdisciplinary group of researchers in Toronto who meet to discuss topics related to animal cognition. Our members and guest speakers are from numerous research fields, including philosophy, anthropology, ethology, psychology, and animal welfare, and span career stages from undergraduate students to emeritus professors. We meet on a monthly basis to present and discuss research, methodological questions, and new publications. We aim to advance the field of animal cognition through exchanging ideas and engaging in discussion from interdisciplinary perspectives.
If you are interested in joining our mailing list to receive updates about upcoming meetings, please email Tyler Delmore.
News:
We are in the midst of wrapping up our Spring sessions for 2024.
2024 Meetings
18 January 2024 - Mental imagery in nonhuman animals
meeting lead: Tyler Delmore (York University)
Reading:
Hassett, T. C., Lord, V. K., & Hampton, R. R. (2022). Rhesus monkeys manipulate mental images. Cognition, 228, 105225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105225
8 February 2024 - Compositionality and replay in the brain
meeting lead: Johannes Mahr (York University)
Reading:
Kurth-Nelson, Z., Behrens, T., Wayne, G., Miller, K., Luettgau, L., Dolan, R., Liu, Y., & Schwartenbeck, P. (2023). Replay and compositional computation. Neuron, 111(4), 454–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.028
28 March 2024 - Cumulative culture and innovation in chimpanzees and bees
meeting lead: Brandon Tinklenberg (York University)
Readings
van Leeuwen, E. J. C., DeTroy, S. E., Haun, D. B. M., & Call, J. (2024). Chimpanzees use social information to acquire a skill they fail to innovate. Nature Human Behaviour, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01836-5
Bridges, A. D., Royka, A., Wilson, T., Lockwood, C., Richter, J., Juusola, M., & Chittka, L. (2024). Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone. Nature, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07126-4
25 April 2024 - Conference recaps and animal gestures
2023 Meetings
12 January 2023 - Do nonhuman animals have social norms?
with Kristin Andrews (York University)
26 January 2023 - Animal play
meeting lead Tyler Delmore (York University)
Reading:
Burghardt, G. M. (2010). Defining and Recognizing Play. In P. Nathan & A. D. Pellegrini (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play. Oxford University Press.
Galpayage Dona, H. S., Solvi, C., Kowalewska, A., Mäkelä, K., MaBouDi, H., & Chittka, L. (2022). Do bumble bees play? Animal Behaviour, 194, 239–251.
16 February 2023 - Goffin's cockatoos using tool-sets
meeting lead Tyler Delmore (York University)
Reading:
Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró (2023), Flexible tool set transport in Goffin's cockatoos, Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.023.
9 March 2023 - Great apes and human children rationally monitor their decisions.
meeting lead Tyler Delmore (York University)
Reading:
O'Madagain et al. (2022). Great apes and human children rationally monitor their decisions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
23 March 2023 - Bonobos' flexible signalling of emotions
with Dennis Papadopoulus (Messerli Research Institute)
Reading:
Heesen, R., Austry, D. A., Upton, Z., & Clay, Z. (2022). Flexible signalling strategies by victims mediate post-conflict interactions in bonobos. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377(1860), 20210310.
20 April 2023 - Conference wrap up: Comparative Cognition Society's CO3
https://www.comparativecognition.org/conferencespast.php
4 May 2023 - Conference wrap up: Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behaviour Association (PAMBA)'s Madrid conference
https://www.the-pamba.com/events-1/inaugural-meeting-of-pamba
2 June 2023 - Is comparative cognition WEIRD?
with Kristin Andrews (York University) and Susana Monsó (UNED)
28 September 2023 - Machine learning and animal communication
with Kristin Andrews (York University)
Reading:
Rutz, C., Bronstein, M., Raskin, A., Vernes, S. C., Zacarian, K., & Blasi, D. E. (2023). Using machine learning to decode animal communication. Science, 381(6654), 152–155.
Dantzker, M., & Brown, D. O. (2009). Signals for Survival. Oxford University Press.
26 October 2023 - Major transitions in cognitive evolution
meeting lead Tyler Delmore (York University)
Reading:
Barron, A. B., Halina, M., & Klein, C. (2023). Transitions in cognitive evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290(2002), 20230671. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0671
16 November 2023 - Disagreement & classification in comparative cognitive science
with Ali Boyle (London School of Economics)
Reading:
Boyle, A. (2023). Disagreement & classification in comparative cognitive science. Noûs, nous.12480. https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12480
8 December 2023 - Fish sentience
with Georgia Mason (University of Guelph)
Readings:
Mason and Lavery (2022). What is it like to be a bass?
Talks by Culum Brown and Brian Key from the CCSAW forum on fish sentience
2022 Meetings
7 January 2022 - Animal Culture
Kristin Andrews (York University)
28 January 2022 - Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans (LSE Report)
Jonathan Birch, Heather Browning, and Andrew Crump (London School of Economics)
11 Feb 2022 - Brainless Cognition (readings from Lyon, Levin, Cheng...)
Tyler Delmore (York University)
11 Mar 2022 - Reasoning by Exclusion
Suzanne L. Gray (Tufts)
25 Mar 2022 - Understanding Human Cognitive Uniqueness (reading Laland & Seed)
Tyler Delmore (York University)
22 April 2022 - CO3 Wrap-up
27 May 2022 - Group decision-making, collective movement in baboons
Virendra Mathur (University of Toronto)
24 June 2022 - Intentional Recruitment in Macaques
6 October 2022 - Place cells, spatial representations, and 'ConSinks' in the mammalian hippocampus (Ormond and O'Keefe article)
20 October 2022 - The phylogeny and ontogeny of temporal cognition (Hoerl and McCormack BBS article)
17 November 2022 - Perception of others' attentional control
Muhammed Ali Qadri (Holy Cross)
8 December 2022 - The loss of cognitive skills
Noam Miller (Wilfred Laurier)
2021 Meetings
29 January 2021 - The Number Sense
Jacob Beck (York University) and Sam Clarke (York University)
5 March 2021 - Social Learning in Apes (Tennie et al., 2020)
Claudio Tennie (University of Tübingen)
16 April 2021 - C03 Wrap-Up
26 May 2021 - Tool use in crows and Goffin's cockatoos
Sara Shettleworth (University of Toronto) and Tyler Delmore (York University)
24 June 2021 - Perception of Eurasian jays
Kristin Andrews (York University)
1 October 2021 - Animal Ethnography
Brenda de Groot (Leiden University)
29 October 2021 - Non-Cognitive Explanations
Noam Miller (Wilfrid Laurier)
26 November 2021 - Replication in Comparative Cognition
Sara Shettleworth (University of Toronto)
2019-2020 Meetings
2 October, 2019 - Exploring Elephant Cognition
Joshua Plotnik (Hunter College)
15 October, 2019 - Measuring Animal Personality
Noam Miller (Wilfrid Laurier University)
23 October, 2019 - Expanding Core Systems of Knowledge
Elizabeth Spelke (Harvard University)
26 November, 2019 - Overimitation in primates and canines
Kristin Andrews (York University)
27 February, 2020 - Morgan's canon
Kevin Lande (York University)
Kristin Andrews (York University)
29 May, 2020 - Animal concept of death
Susana Monsó (Messerli Research Institute in Vienna)
Antonio Osuna-Mascaró (Messerli Research Institute in Vienna)
19 June 2020 - Historical writing: The Descent of Man and Margaret Washburn
Kristin Andrews (York University)
Sara Shettleworth (University of Toronto, Emerita)
13 July 2020 - Plant minds
Noam Miller (Wilfrid Laurier University)
12 Aug 2020 - Invertebrate cognition
Russell Powell (Boston University)
16 Oct 2020 - Methods in Animal Consciousness Research
Brandon Tinklenberg & Dylan Ludwig (York University)
20 Nov 2020 - Sensory Consciousness and Memory Awareness, in Crows and Monkeys
Sara Shettleworth (University of Toronto, Emerita)
11 Dec 2020 - Olfactory Mirrors - Tests for Self-recognition in Snakes
Noam Miller (Wilfrid Laurier University)
2018-2019 Meetings
20 September, 2018 - Cumulative Cultural Evolution
Kristin Andrews (York University), Noam Miller (Wilfrid Laurier University), & Brandon Tinklenberg (York University)
24 October, 2018 - Measurement methods for inferring cognitive mechanisms
Laura Adams (Seneca College)
15 November, 2018 - Social Learning Strategies
Lindsey Kitchenham & Georgia Mason (University of Guelph)
17 January, 2019 - Exploring Animal Minds
Kristin Andrews (York University)
28 February, 2019 - Pantomime in Great Apes
Anne Russon (York University)
21 March, 2019 - Minimalism vs. Intellectualism Approaches to Attributing Concepts
Kevin Temple (University of Toronto)
8 May, 2019 - "The replication crisis” and research in animal cognition and behaviour
Sara Shettleworth (University of Toronto)
21 June, 2019 - Empathy in Animals
Kristin Andrews (York University) & Noam Miller (Wilfrid Laurier University)