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CfA: RUB-LSE Workshop on Animal Minds
Participation via Zoom is also possible. More information
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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Relevant Publications
For full list of selected publications, see the publications page
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
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
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
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
A Perceptually Grounded Neural Dynamic Architecture Establishes Analogy Between Visual Object Pairs
Sabinasz & Schöner, 2022 Sabinasz, D. & Schöner, G. (2022). A Perceptually Grounded Neural Dynamic Architecture Establishes Analogy Between Visual Object Pairs. In J. Culbertson, Perfors, A., Rabagliati, H., & Ramenzoni, V. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 44th...
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
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....
A Model of Semantic Completion in Generative Episodic Memory
Cheng, 2022 Fayyaz, Z., Altamimi, A., Zoellner, C., Klein, N., Wolf, O. T., Cheng, S., & Wiskott, L. (2022). A Model of Semantic Completion in Generative Episodic Memory. Neural Computation, 34(9), 1841–1870.
Metacognition and self-control: An integrative framework. Psychological Review
Hennecke, 2023 Hennecke, M., & Bürgler, S.(2023). Metacognition and self-control: An integrative framework. Psychological Review, 130(5), 1262-1268. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000406
Evolutionary Inquiries Into the Origin and Nature of Mental Disorders
Brüne, 2023 Brüne M. (2023). Evolutionary Inquiries Into the Origin and Nature of Mental Disorders. JAMA psychiatry, 80(6), 537–538. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.0662
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
Mental Content
Schlicht, 2022 Dołęga, K., & Schlicht, T. (2022). Mental Content. In Mind, Cognition, and Neuroscience. Routledge.
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:...
The value of mere completion
Hennecke, 2023 Converse, B. A., Tsang, S., & Hennecke, M. (2023). The value of mere completion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(11), 3021–3036. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001434
The interaction of Bayesian pragmatics and lexical semantics in linguistic interpretation: Using event-related potentials to investigate hearers’ probabilistic predictions
Werning, 2017 Werning, M., & Cosentino, E. (2017). The interaction of Bayesian pragmatics and lexical semantics in linguistic interpretation: Using event-related potentials to investigate hearers’ probabilistic predictions. In: G. Gunzelmann, A. Howes, T....
Storage fidelity for sequence memory in the hippocampal circuit
Wiskott, 2018 Bayati, M., Neher, T., Melchior, J., Diba, K., Wiskott, L., & Cheng, S. (2018). Storage fidelity for sequence memory in the hippocampal circuit. PloS One, 13(10), e0204685. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204685
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),...
The function of teacher dashboards depends on the amount of time pressure in the classroom situation: results from teacher interviews and an experimental study
Rummel, 2022 Van Leeuwen, A., & Rummel, N. (2022). The function of teacher dashboards depends on the amount of time pressure in the classroom situation: results from teacher interviews and an experimental study. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 50, 561–588....
Evidence for single-type semantics: An alternative to e/t-based dual-type semantics
Werning, 2018 Liefke, K., & Werning, M. (2018). Evidence for Single-Type Semantics—An Alternative To e/t-based Dual-Type Semantics. Journal of Semantics, 77, 107. https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffy009
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
Stress research during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Wolf, 2021 Pfeifer, L. S., Heyers, K., Ocklenburg, S., & Wolf, O. T. (2021). Stress research during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 131, 581–596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.045
Philosophical analysis: the concept grounding view
Horvath, 2018 Horvath, J. (2018). Philosophical Analysis: The Concept Grounding View. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 97(3), 724–750. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12378
Death anxiety and depression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and their primary caregivers
Tegenthoff, 2018 Grabler, M. R., Weyen, U., Juckel, G., Tegenthoff, M., & Mavrogiorgou-Juckel, P. (2018). Death Anxiety and Depression in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients and Their Primary Caregivers. Frontiers in Neurology, 9, 1035....
How stress and glucocorticoids timing-dependently affect extinction and relapse
Wolf, 2018 Meir Drexler, S., Merz, C. J., Jentsch, V. L., & Wolf, O. T. (2018). How stress and glucocorticoids timing-dependently affect extinction and relapse. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 98, 145–153....