Biography

I am an Associate Professor in Comparative Psychology and member of the psychology department at the University of Portsmouth. Before that I was the group leader of the research group “Evolutionary Roots of Human Social Interaction” at the Max Planck Institute for evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig/ Germany where I also completed my PhD in 2005 (with Michael Tomasello & Josep Call). I was also a Junior Research Fellow at Churchill College and a member of the Experimental Psychology lab of Cambridge University.

Research interests

My main research interest is the evolution of human sociality with a particular focus on social cognition. Here I am especially interested in the individual’s understanding of others’ perception, knowledge, intentions, desires and beliefs. I am also interested in questions concerning cooperation and communication among individuals. In my research I follow a comparative approach, that is, I select meaningful groups for comparisons. One comparison is that of humans with their closest living relatives, the great apes. Another comparison is that of humans with one of their closest living domesticated species, the domestic dog.

Research outputs

2024

“We forgot about the donkeys!” An institutional analysis of the shift in animal welfare from direct implementation towards advocacy-based programming

Brown, J., Burden, F., Haddy, E., Kaminski, J., Proops, L., Raw, Z.

14 Feb 2024, In: Animal Welfare. 33, 9p., e9

2023

Sustainability in NGO programming: a case study of working equid welfare organizations

Brown, J., Burden, F., Haddy, E., Kaminski, J., Proops, L., Raw, Z.

19 Dec 2023, In: SAGE Open. 13, 4, 12p.

ManyDogs 1: a multi-lab replication study of dogs’ pointing comprehension

Alberghina, D., Alway, H. E. E., Barela, J. D., Bogese, M., Bray, E. E., Buchsbaum, D., Byosiere, S., Byrne, M., Cavalli, C. M., Chaudoir, L. M., Collins-Pisano, C., DeBoer, H. J., Douglas, L. E. L. C., Dror, S., Dzik, M. V., Espinosa, J., Ferguson, B., Fisher, L., Fitzpatrick, H., Freeman, M. S., Frinton, S. N., Glover, M. K., Gnanadesikan, G. E., Goacher, J. E. P., Golańska, M., Guran, C. A., Hare, B., Hare, E., Hickey, M., Horschler, D. J., Huber, L., Jim, H., Johnson, A. M., Kaminski, J., Kelly, D. M., Kuhlmeier, V. A., Lassiter, L., Lazarowski, L., Leighton-Birch, J., MacLean, E. L., Maliszewska, K., Marra, V., Montgomery, L. I., Murray, M. S., Nelson, E. K., Ostojić, L., Palermo, S. G., Parks Russell, A. E., Pelgrim, M. H., Pellowe, S. D., Reinholz, A., Rial, L. A., Richards, E. M., Ross, M. A., Rothkoff, L. G., Salomons, H., Sanger, J. K., Santos, L., Schirle, A. R., Shearer, S. J., Silver, Z. A., Silverman, J. M., Sommese, A., Srdoc, T., St. John-Mosse, H., Stevens, J. R., Vega, A. C., Vékony, K., Völter, C. J., Walsh, C. J., Worth, Y. A., Zipperling, L. M. I., Zylberfuden, S. G., Żołędziewska, B.

1 Aug 2023, In: Animal Behavior and Cognition. 10, 3, p. 232-286

Belief in animal sentience and affective owner attitudes are linked to positive working equid welfare across six countries

Brown, J., Burden, F., Haddy, E. C., Kaminski, J., Proops, L., Raw, Z., Rodrigues, J., Zappi, H.

28 Jul 2023, In: Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

View all my research outputs