Research Areas: Animal Learning and Behavior

Faculty in animal learning and behavior study the proximate causes of behavior, its development, and its evolution from a variety of different perspectives. Several investigators are using behavioral, genetic, pharmacological and neural recording approaches to study the mechanisms that underlie learning in mice (Medina, Muzzio), rats and pigeons (Rescorla), the neural basis of song production and perception in birds (Schmidt), and the neural and hormonal control of feeding and reproduction in rats (Flanagan-Cato, Grill). Others conduct semi-natural investigations of behavioral development and social learning in birds (Schmidt), while others conduct field research on nonhuman primates in their natural habitat, with a focus on communication, cognition, cultural transmission, and the evolution of mating systems (Cheney, Fernandez-Duqué, Seyfarth).