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CfA: RUB-LSE Workshop on Animal Minds

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Call for abstracts: Ruhr-University Bochum & London School of Economics joint workshop “Animal Minds: New Theories and New Observations”, 9th-10th of February 2026 in Bochum, abstract deadline: 01.12.2025

The interdisciplinary workshop “Animal Minds: New Theories and New Observations”, jointly organized by Ruhr-University Bochum and The London School of Economics, will take place on the 9th & 10th of February 2026 at Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.

The workshop will combine discussions of new theoretical and methodological approaches with presentations of novel empirical findings about animal minds.

The following speakers are confirmed: Colin Allen, Kristin Andrews, Jonathan Birch, Thomas Bugnyar, Tomer Czaczkes, Rebecca Dreier, Leonard Dung, Albert Newen, Simone Pika, Sanja Sreckovic, and Daria Zakharova.

We are inviting contributions from philosophy, psychology, ethology, neuroscience, biology, and other relevant disciplines. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

  • What do we know about capacities such as reasoning, sentience, or social understanding in other species?

 

  • How do the cognitive and affective capacities of different species compare and contrast with each other and with human capacities?

 

  • What is the evolutionary origin of important human psychological features?

 

  • What are promising methodological frameworks and experimental paradigms for investigating animal minds?

 

  • Which theories about animal minds are supported by recent empirical findings?

 

  • What are the promises and limitations of multidimensional profile and signature testing accounts in comparative psychology?

 

To be considered for a talk (30 minutes + 15 minutes discussion) or poster presentation, please send an abstract of your proposed presentation of up to 500 words (excluding references) to: hilfskraefte-newen@rub.de. The abstract should be anonymous, allowing blinded review, and accompanied by a second Word or PDF file containing author name(s), affiliation(s), and contact details. The deadline for abstract submissions is the 1st of December 2025. We plan to notify everyone about whether their abstract is accepted within two weeks after the deadline.

    This joint event is organized by the following team:

    Ruhr-University Bochum:  Sanja Sreckovic, Leonard Dung, & Albert Newen

    London School of Economics: Jonathan Birch
    Please direct any questions to: leonard.dung@rub.de

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    <i>Psychology</i> <br>Katja Langer (RUB) <br><b>Interindividual differences in emotion regulation flexibility: the moderating role of working memory capacity and regulation performances</b>

    April 28
    4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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    12
    May

    <i>Psychoneuroendocrinology</i> <br>Lena Pfeifer (RUB) <br><b>Cortisol, sex hormones and memory retrieval</b>

    May 12
    4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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    19
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    <i>Psychology</i> <br>Lianne Wolsink (RUB) <br><b>Stress effects on memory accuracy vs. generalization over time</b>

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    Rudolf-Carnap-Lectures 2026: Transformative Experience. with L.A. Paul

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    Relevant Publications

    For full list of selected publications, see the publications page

    When is learning “effortful”? Scrutinizing the concept of mental effort in cognitively-oriented research from a motivational perspective

    Roelle, 2024 Grund, A., Fries, S., Nückles, M., Renkl, A., & Roelle, J. (2024). When is learning “effortful”? Scrutinizing the concept of mental effort in cognitively-oriented research from a motivational perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 36, Article...

    Foundation Models – A New Paradigm for Artificial Intelligence

    Meske, 2024 Schneider, J., Meske, C. and Kuss, P. (2024). Foundation Models – A New Paradigm for Artificial Intelligence. Business & Information Systems Engineering 66, 221–231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12599-024-00851-0

    Out of touch? How trauma shapes the experience of social touch – neural and endocrine pathways

    Scheele, 2024 Stevens L., Bregulla M., Scheele D. (2024). Out of touch? How trauma shapes the experience of social touch – neural and endocrine pathways. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (in press)

    Deceptive XAI: Typology, Creation and Detection

    Meske, 2024 Schneider, J., Meske, C. & Vlachos, M. (2024). Deceptive XAI: Typology, Creation and Detection. SN Computer Science 5, 81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-023-02401-z

    Opposing serial effects of stimulus and choice in speech perception scale with context variability

    Blank, 2024 Ufer, C. & Blank, H. (2024) Opposing serial effects of stimulus and choice in speech perception scale with context variability. iScience:110611.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110611

    Prediction error processing and sharpening of expected information across the face-processing hierarchy

    Blank, 2024 Garlichs, A. & Blank, H. (2024). Prediction error processing and sharpening of expected information across the face-processing hierarchy. Nature Communications, 15, 3407.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47749-9

    A map of spatial navigation for neuroscience

    Wiskott, 2023 Parra-Barrero, E., Vijayabaskaran, S., Seabrook, E., Wiskott, L., & Cheng, S. (2023). A map of spatial navigation for neuroscience. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 152, 105200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105200

    Profiles of animal consciousness: A species-sensitive, two-tier account to quality and distribution.

    Newen, 2023 Dung, L., & Newen, A. (2023). Profiles of animal consciousness: A species-sensitive, two-tier account to quality and distribution. Cognition, 235, 105409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105409

    Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure

    Rummel, 2023 Brand, C., Hartmann, C., Loibl, K. & Rummel, N.v(2023). Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure. Instructional Science....

    Factivity variation in episodic memory reports

    Liefke & Werning, 2022 Liefke, K., & Werning, M. (in press). Factivity variation in episodic memory reports. In Y. Katsutoshi, T. Yasufumi, & K. Mineshima (Eds.), New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Heidelberg:...

    Altered Left Ventricular Myocardial Deformation in Young Women With Borderline Personality Disorder: An Echocardiographic Study

    Brüne, 2022 Engemann, L., Aweimer, A., Ewers, A., Afshari, F., Maiß, C., Kern, K., … & Brüne, M. (2022). Altered Left Ventricular Myocardial Deformation in Young Women With Borderline Personality Disorder: An Echocardiographic Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 84(5),...

    Exploring accidental triggers of smart speakers

    Kolossa, 2022 Schönherr, L., Golla, M., Eisenhofer, T., Wiele, J., Kolossa, D., & Holz, T. (2022). Exploring accidental triggers of smart speakers. Computer Speech & Language, 73, 101328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csl.2021.101328

    A conceptual framework for empathy in humans and nonhuman animals

    Newen, 2023 Newen, A., Griem, M., Pika, S. (2023): A conceptual framework for empathy in humans and nonhuman animals. In: Wittgenstein and Beyond, Routledge, New York. DOI: 10.4324/9781003202929-15 Chapter PDF

    Intuitive Expertise in Moral Judgments

    Horvath, 2022 Horvath, J., & Wiegmann, A. (2022). Intuitive Expertise in Moral Judgments. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 100(2), 342–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048402.2021.1890162

    Modeling the function of episodic memory in spatial learning

    Wiskott, 2023 Zeng, X., Diekmann, N., Wiskott, L., & Cheng, S. (2023). Modeling the function of episodic memory in spatial learning. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1160648. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1160648

    Olfactory information encoding engages subcortical and cortical brain regions that enable sensory information processing and valence encoding

    Manahan-Vaughan, 2022 Strauch C., Angenstein F., Huong, T.H. & Manahan-Vaughan, D. (2022). Olfactory information encoding engages subcortical and cortical brain regions that enable sensory information processing and valence encoding. Cerebral Cortex 30(2)....

    The stabilization of visibility for sequentially presented, low-contrast objects: Experiments and neural field model.

    Schöner, 2023 Hock, H. S., & Schöner, G. (2023). The stabilization of visibility for sequentially presented, low-contrast objects: Experiments and neural field model. Journal of Vision, 23(8), 12.https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.23.8.12

    Neural dynamic foundations of a theory of higher cognition: The case of grounding nested phrases.

    Schöner & Sabinasz, 2023 Sabinasz, D., Richter, M., & Schöner, G. (2023). Neural dynamic foundations of a theory of higher cognition: The case of grounding nested phrases. Cognitive Neurodynamics.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-023-10007-7

    Stress and memory retrieval: mechanisms and consequences

    Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure

    Rummel, 2023 Brand, C., Hartmann, C., Loibl, K. & Rummel, N.v(2023). Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure. Instructional Science....

    Visual and Tactile Sensory Systems Share Common Features in Object Recognition.

    Tegenthoff, 2021 Tabrik, S., Behroozi, M., Schlaffke, L., Heba, S., Lenz, M., Lissek, S., Güntürkün, O., Dinse, H. R., & Tegenthoff, M. (2021). Visual and Tactile Sensory Systems Share Common Features in Object Recognition. eNeuro, 8(5), ENEURO.0101-21.2021....

    Mechanistic flexibility of the Retrosplenial Cortex enables its contribution to spatial cognition

    Stacho & Manahan-Vaughan, 2022 Stacho M., & Manahan-Vaughan, D. (2022). Mechanistic flexibility of the Retrosplenial Cortex enables its contribution to spatial cognition. Trends In Neurosciences, 45(4), 284-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2022.01.007

    Happy together? On the relationship between research on retrieval practice and generative learning using the case of follow-up learning tasks

    Roelle, 2023 Roelle, J., Endres, T., Abel, R., Obergassel, N., Nückles, M., & Renkl, A. (2023). Happy together? On the relationship between research on retrieval practice and generative learning using the case of follow-up learning tasks. Educational Psychology...

    Mechanistic flexibility of the Retrosplenial Cortex enables its contribution to spatial cognition

    Manahan-Vaughan, 2022 Stacho M, Manahan-Vaughan D (2022) Mechanistic flexibility of the Retrosplenial Cortex enables its contribution to spatial cognition. Trends Neurosci. 45:284- 296. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.01.007

    Prediction error processing and sharpening of expected information across the face-processing hierarchy

    Blank, 2024 Garlichs, A. & Blank, H. (2024). Prediction error processing and sharpening of expected information across the face-processing hierarchy. Nature Communications, 15, 3407.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47749-9

    Can you teach me not to be angry? Relations between temperament and the emotion regulation strategy distraction in 2-year-olds.

    Schneider, 2022 Schoppmann, J., Schneider, S., & Seehagen, S. (2022). Can you teach me not to be angry? Relations between temperament and the emotion regulation strategy distraction in 2-year-olds. Child Development, 93(1), 165–179....