Biography

I am a member of the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology and co-director of the Macaca Nigra Project. I completed my PhD in 2012 working on the link between crested macaques’ communication and their social system (with Bridget Waller and Antje Engelhardt). I obtained my Masters in Eco-physiology and Ethology at the Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg (France) in 2007 and studied Zoology as an undergraduate at the Henry Poincare University of Nancy (France). Before joining the University of Portsmouth, I worked as a Field Assistant for the Macaca Nigra Project, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Research interests

My research focuses on the evolution of social communication. I am particularly interested in the link between social complexity and communication complexity. I mostly study the communication system of the socially tolerant and understudied crested macaque (Macaca nigra), combining observations of wild animals and cognitive experiment with captive populations.

I am currently leading the NetFACS project, which is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. In this project, we combine the Facial Action Coding System (an anatomically-based system designed to break-down facial expressions into their most basic observable units, the contraction of individual facial muscles) with Social Network Analysis (a method to measure relationships between units in a system) to develop a novel framework to study communication via the face: NetFACS. In this framework, facial expressions will be conceptualised as a network of facial muscles, interacting to produce communication. This method will take into account the dynamic nature of facial expressions and therefore, better reflect its complexity.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach on the undergraduate degree programmes for BSc Psychology and BSc Forensic Psychology. I coordinate the Research Project module for the MRes Science, and the Animal Behaviour module for the BSc Psychology. I also supervise undergraduate dissertations related to comparative and evolutionary psychology, social cognition, and primate behaviour.

Research outputs

2024

Relationship between dominance hierarchy steepness and rank-relatedness of benefits in primates

Arlet, M. E., Balasubramaniam, K. N., Beisner, B. A., Bliss-Moreau, E., Brent, L. J. N., Duboscq, J., García-Nisa, I., Huang, P., Kaburu, S. S. K., Kendal, R., Konečná, M., Majolo, B., Marty, P. R., McCowan, B., Micheletta, J., Ostner, J., Schino, G., Schülke, O.

1 Sep 2024, In: Behavioral Ecology. 35, 5, 14p., arae066

The face is central to primate multimodal signals

Clark, P. R., Kavanagh, E., Micheletta, J., Waller, B., Whitehouse, J.

1 Jun 2024, In: International Journal of Primatology. 45, 17p.

2023

Pseudoreplication in primate communication research: 10 years on

Clark, P. R., Liebal, K., Micheletta, J., Slocombe, K. E., Waller, B., Whitehouse, J.

9 Oct 2023, In: International Journal of Primatology

Higher social tolerance is associated with more complex facial behavior in macaques

Clark, P. R., Duboscq, J., Micheletta, J., Mielke, A., Pérez, C., Rincon, A. V., Waller, B. M.

3 Oct 2023, In: eLife. 12, 17p., RP87008

Tolerant macaque species are less impulsive and reactive

Ballesta, S., Joly, M., Loyant, L., Meunier, H., Micheletta, J., Waller, B.

1 Sep 2023, In: Animal Cognition. 26

Ten years of positive impact of a conservation education program on children's knowledge and behaviour toward crested macaques (Macaca nigra) in the Greater Tangkoko Area, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Agil, M., Chanvin, M., Diko, N., Lamarque, F., Micheletta, J., Widdig, A.

1 Aug 2023, In: International Journal of Primatology. 44

Monkeying around: non-human primate behavioural responses to humans reproducing their facial expressions

Catinaud, J., Julle-Danière, E., Luisi, B., Maréchal, L., Micheletta, J.

1 Aug 2023, In: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 265, 8p., 105990

Investigating the relationship between sociality and reproductive success in wild female crested macaques, Macaca nigra

Duboscq, J., Engelhardt, A., Micheletta, J., Neumann, C., Perwitasari-Farajallah, D.

1 Aug 2023, In: International Journal of Primatology. 44

Personality traits predict social network size in older adults

Micheletta, J., Rollings, J., Van Laar, D., Waller, B.

1 Jun 2023, In: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 49, 6, p. 823-984, 14p.

Testing for personality consistency across naturally occurring behavioral contexts in sanctuary chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Bard, K. A., Chotard, H., Davila‐Ross, M., Micheletta, J.

1 Jan 2023, In: American Journal of Primatology. 85, 1, 15p., e23451

View all my research outputs