The Comparative Cognition Laboratory is a part of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at The University of Iowa. Our research concerns the experimental investigation of cognitive processes in adaptive behavior, with an overarching interest in comparing cognition in humans and nonhuman animals. Specific research topics include: category learning, cognitive flexibility, and same-different conceptualization. The evidence that we collect constantly surprises us and forces us to view human cognition in a fresh light. 

News and Announcements

Cover of Neuroscience Insights

The Pigeon as a Model of Complex Visual Processing

Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Ed, in collaboration with Onur Güntürkün and Brandon Turner, has published a Neuroscience Insights article where they show that recent behavioral, computational, and neuroscientific investigations reveal compelling reasons for a pigeon model to gain prominence in contemporary neuroscientific research.
View more
crow headshot

The Magic of Bird Brains

Interesting article by Ben Crair, in The New Yorker, featuring Frédéric Jiguet, an ornithologist who studies the crows' movements around the city of Paris.

Among other curiosities, you can read about the attempt to try to use the crows as waste-collection devices using a "crow vending machine" that could allow the birds to exchange trash for food.

photo of Ellen

Ellen O'Donoghue awarded APA Dissertation Award

One of our former graduate students, Ellen O'Donoghue, PhD, was recently awarded the APA Division 25 SEAB Dissertation Award in Basic Research for her dissertation "A Comparative Investigation into the Mechanisms that Support Multidimensional Categorization.” 
 
Congratulations, Ellen!