From “man’s best friend” to “bad dogs”: The broad spectrum of #caninecog

This post was co-authored by Ludwig Huber. We were guest editors of a special issue of Learning & Behavior that is entirely devoted to the cognitive (and sensory) abilities of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). The articles can be accessed from this landing page for free until 31 December 2018. As far as we know, apart […]

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The English love dogs—but do they own (m)any?

I live on an island that is famous for quite a few things, among them the apparent love affair between its human and canine inhabitants. According to an English journalist writing for a mainstream newspaper, “Many Englishmen reserve their deepest feelings for dogs and other dumb beasts.” (Her words, not mine). According to another journalist, […]

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One butterfly for you and two for me

Prosocial behaviors are behaviors that advantage others and include helping, cooperating, volunteering, comforting, and sharing. The bird pictured below sharing his catch with his friend or mate is an example of a prosocial behavior. In humans, prosocial behaviors tend to be directed more toward people we like than those we do not like. In the […]

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First-case scenario: Primacy effects depend on reading direction

How many U.S. presidents can you name? (Apologies to our international audience.) Regardless of how many you can recall, I would bet that among the ones you did remember are Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Trump, Obama, and Bush. I would also bet that among the ones you did not remember are McKinley, Hoover, and Cleveland. Don’t […]

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#psynom18: The digital frontier

The Psychonomic Society has been actively upgrading its digital presence—not just here, on the Featured Content site, but also during our annual meetings. We have been tweeting with our own hashtag for several years, and this year we are taking several extra steps. Live tweeting The hashtag for this year’s meeting is #psynom18. Everybody is […]

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Countdown to #psynom18: Academic highlights

The annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society will commence a week from today. The Society is looking forward to welcoming you to New Orleans. The program has been posted and the mobile app is available for download. The Society is urging everyone who is planning to attend to register online rather than onsite. (My best guess is that you have […]

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Thomas the loop engine: Learning to program computers with a toy train

With the increased demand for computer programming skills in industries outside of technology, younger and younger kids are now taught the basics of computer science to prepare for future jobs. For example, when Amazon launched a program aiming to teach 10 million kids a year to code last week, it was because the company was […]

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Ichabod Crane and perceptual categorization in pigeons

Suppose I were to show you three different objects – a Jeep, Honda, and Ferrari. You could quickly name their shared category as “car”. Pigeons, honeybees, dogs, rats, and a variety of primates can answer that question just as fast as a human, after sufficient experience. Even more impressive is that all of these species can […]

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