Recent News
Current call for fellowships
We have 7 open calls for fellowships across disciplines. The deadline is March 15th 2026.
Please find the calls here:
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
Upcoming Events
27
May
Rudolf-Carnap-Lectures 2026: Transformative Experience. with L.A. Paul
May 27
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
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
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
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)
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....
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
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
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
Fictional emotions and emotional reactions to social robots as depictions of social agents
Weber-Guskar, 2023 Blatter, J., & Weber-Guskar, E. (2023). Fictional emotions and emotional reactions to social robots as depictions of social agents. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, e24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22001716
The ALARM theory of consciousness: A two-level theory of phenomenal consciousness
Newen, 2023 Newen, A., & Montemayor, C. (2023). The ALARM theory of consciousness: A two-level theory of phenomenal consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 30(3-4), 84–105. https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.30.3.084
Mischaracterization Reconsidered
Horvath, 2022 Horvath, J. (2022). Mischaracterization Reconsidered. Inquiry, 0(0), 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2021.2019894
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....
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
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.
Designing for the co-Orchestration of Social Transitions between Individual, Small-Group and Whole-Class Learning in the Classroom.
Rummel, 2021 Olsen, J. K., Rummel, N., & Aleven, V. (2021). Designing for the co-Orchestration of Social Transitions between Individual, Small-Group and Whole-Class Learning in the Classroom. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 31(1),...
How does an emotional culture of joy cultivate team resilience? A sociocognitive perspective
Weiss, 2021 Hartmann, S., Weiss, M., Hoegl, M., & Carmeli, A. (2021). How does an emotional culture of joy cultivate team resilience? A sociocognitive perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(3), 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2496
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....
Metacomprehension in Multiple Document Reading. Can Judgment Accuracy Be Fostered by Generating Twitter-Like Summaries?
Stadtler, 2023 Schuster, C., Alef, M., Mierwald, M., Brauch, N., & Stadtler, M. (2023). Metacomprehension in Multiple Document Reading. Can Judgment Accuracy Be Fostered by Generating Twitter-Like Summaries? Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische...
The Cost of the Epistemic Step: Investigating Scalar Implicatures in Full and Partial Information Contexts
Werning, 2021 Spychalska, M., Reimer, L., Schumacher, P. B., & Werning, M. (2021). The Cost of the Epistemic Step: Investigating Scalar Implicatures in Full and Partial Information Contexts. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 2133....
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
Working memory capacity of crows and monkeys arises from similar neuronal computations
Rose, 2021 Hahn, L. A., Balakhonov, D., Fongaro, E., Nieder, A., & Rose, J. (2021). Working memory capacity of crows and monkeys arises from similar neuronal computations. eLife, 10, e72783. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72783
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....
The Oxford Handbook of 4e cognition
Newen, 2018 Newen, A., Bruin, L. d., & Gallagher, S. (Eds.). (2018). The Oxford handbook of 4E cognition (First edition). Oxford, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.