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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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    Workshop: Panpsychism, Non-Physicalism, & the Causal Power of Consciousness

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    Upcoming Events

    Full event calender

    26
    Jan

    <i><b>Zoom Only:</b>Comp. Psychology:</i><br>Fumihiro Kano (MPI Konstanz)<br><b>Decoding Social Cognition via Gaze in Human and Nonhuman Animals: From Individual to Collective Levels</b>

    January 26
    1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
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    27
    Jan

    <i>Philosophy:</i><br>Peter Gärdenfors (Lund)<br><b>Reasoning with Concepts</br></b>

    January 27
    2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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    27
    Jan

    <i>Psychology:</i><br>Lianne Wolsink (RUB)<br><b>Stress effects on memory accuracy vs. generalization over time</b>

    January 27
    4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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    28
    Jan

    <i>Philosophy:</i> <br>Andreas Lammer (RUB) <br><b>Avicenna and the Post-Avicennian Tradition on Poles and Mirror Worlds</b>

    January 28
    12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
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    29
    Jan

    Workshop with Hedda Hassel Morch: <br><b>Panpsychism, Non-Physicalism, & the Causal Powers of Consciousness</b>

    January 29
    10:00 am - 6:00 pm
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    29
    Jan

    <i>Philosophy:</i><br>Katharina Felka (Münster)<br><b>Title: TBA</b>

    January 29
    12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
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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...

    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)

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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)....

    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....

    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

    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

    Mental Content

    Schlicht, 2022 Dołęga, K., & Schlicht, T. (2022). Mental Content. In Mind, Cognition, and Neuroscience. Routledge.

    Berechenbare Gefühle? Grundlegendes zu einer Ethik der digitalen Emotionserfassung

    Weber-Guskar, 2023 Weber-Guskar, E. (2023). Berechenbare Gefühle? Grundlegendes zu einer Ethik der digitalen Emotionserfassung. In: Schweiger, G., Zichy, M. (eds) Zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen im Zeitalter des Digitalen. Techno:Phil – Aktuelle Herausforderungen der...

    Stress-Mediated Abnormalities in Regional Myocardial Wall Motion in Young Women with a History of Psychological Trauma

    Brüne, 2023 Aweimer, A., Engemann, L., Amar, S., Ewers, A., Afshari, F., Maiß, C., Kern, K., Lücke, T., Mügge, A., El-Battrawy, I., Dietrich, J. W., & Brüne, M. (2023). Stress-Mediated Abnormalities in Regional Myocardial Wall Motion in Young Women with a History...

    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

    Optogenetics reveals paradoxical network stabilizations in hippocampal CA1 and CA3

    Cheng, 2023 de Jong, L. W., Nejad, M. M., Yoon, E., Cheng, S., & Diba, K. (2023). Optogenetics reveals paradoxical network stabilizations in hippocampal CA1 and CA3. Current Biology. 33(9), 1689-1703.

    Quo Vadis Psychiatry? Why It Is Time to Endorse Evolutionary Theory

    Brüne, 2022 Brüne, M., Palanza, P., Parmigiani, S., & Troisi, A. (2022). Quo Vadis Psychiatry? Why It Is Time to Endorse Evolutionary Theory. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 210(4), 235-245.

    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

    State-Dependent Memory in Infants.

    Schneider, 2021 Seehagen, S., Schneider, S., Sommer, K., La Rocca, L., & Konrad, C. (2021). State-Dependent Memory in Infants. Child Development, 92(2), 578–585. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13444

    Improving sensory representations using episodic memory

    Wiskott, 2021 Görler, R., Wiskott, L., & Cheng, S. (2020). Improving sensory representations using episodic memory. Hippocampus, 30(6), 638–656. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.23186

    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

    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....

    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

    Verlangsamung und Stillstand: Über eine Störung des Zeitbewusstseins und ihre ethische Relevanz

    Weber-Guskar, 2023 Weber-Guskar, E. (2023). Verlangsamung und Stillstand: Über eine Störung des Zeitbewusstseins und ihre ethische Relevanz. Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.22613/zfpp/10.1.9