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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
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
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...
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)
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
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
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
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...
Reflecting (on) Replica. Can We Have a Good Affective Relationship with a Social Chatbot?
Weber-Guskar, 2022 Weber-Guskar, E. (2022). Reflecting (on) Replica. Can We Have a Good Affective Relationship with a Social Chatbot? In: Social Robotics and the Good Life: The Normative Side of Forming Emotional Bonds With Robots. (2022). transcript Verlag....
Minds, Brains, and Deep Learning: The Development of Cognitive Science Through the Lens of Kant’s Approach to Cognition
Schlicht, 2022 Schlicht, T. (2022). 1 Minds, Brains, and Deep Learning: The Development of Cognitive Science Through the Lens of Kant’s Approach to Cognition. Kant and Artificial Intelligence.
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
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....
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)....
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...
Mischaracterization Reconsidered
Horvath, 2022 Horvath, J. (2022). Mischaracterization Reconsidered. Inquiry, 0(0), 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2021.2019894
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
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
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....
Endogenous oxytocin is associated with the experience of compassion and recalled upbringing in Borderline Personality Disorder
Brüne, 2018 Ebert, A., Edel, M.-A., Gilbert, P., & Brüne, M. (2018). Endogenous oxytocin is associated with the experience of compassion and recalled upbringing in Borderline Personality Disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 35(1), 50–57....
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...
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....
Understanding another person’s emotions – an interdisciplinary research approach
Brüne, 2018 Juckel, G., Heinisch, C., Welpinghus, A., & Brüne, M. (2018). Understanding Another Person’s Emotions-An Interdisciplinary Research Approach. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 414. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00414
Does separating intentionality from mental representation imply radical enactivism?
Schlicht, 2018 Schlicht, T. (2018). Does Separating Intentionality From Mental Representation Imply Radical Enactivism? Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1497. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01497
Special Issue: Predictive Processing and Consciousness
Schlicht, 2022 Miller, Mark, Andy Clark, und Tobias Schlicht (eds.). „Special Issue: Predictive Processing and Consciousness“. Review of Philosophy and Psychology 13, Nr. 4 (1. Dezember 2022).
A Model of Semantic Completion in Generative Episodic Memory
Wiskott, 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. http://doi.org/10.1162/neco_a_01520
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