Draft:Alex H. Taylor
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Alex H. Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (B.A.) University of Auckland (Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Evolution of intelligence in birds, physical cognition, problem-solving, signature-testing approach |
| Awards | Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (2014–2019) Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize (2015) ICREA Research Professorship (2023) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Comparative psychology, Animal cognition, Evolutionary biology |
| Institutions | University of Auckland Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
Alex H. Taylor is a comparative psychologist whose research focuses on animal cognition, particularly in birds. He is currently an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Neuroscience, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Taylor completed a degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD in Psychology at the University of Auckland in 2010.[2] He later held a Junior Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge before returning to Auckland as a lecturer.[3] He was awarded a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2014[4] and received the Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize in 2015.[5] In 2023, he joined UAB with support from a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant.[6]
Research
[edit]Taylor's research investigates how non-human animals think about the physical and social world. His work with New Caledonian crows has explored tool use and causal reasoning[7], demonstrating these birds can mentally represent problems involving tools[8] and show optimistic responses after tool use.[9]. His work with kea parrots has demonstrated this species can integrate social and physical information into statistical inferences in a domain-general manner.[10] Taylor has also developed the "signature-testing" approach, a framework for making stronger inferences about species' cognitive processes through diagnostic information-processing patterns, rather than task success alone.[11]
Media and public engagement
[edit]Taylor's research has been featured in several science documentaries, including the BBC documentary Animal Minds[12], the PBS/National Geographic film A Murder of Crows[13], and BBC’s Animal Einsteins series presented by Chris Packham[14]. His studies on bird cognition and problem-solving have been covered in the mainstream media, including in Forbes[15], The Guardian[16], The New York Times[17] and many other media outlets.
References
[edit]- ^ "Taylor, Alexander — ICREA". ICREA. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Dr Alex Taylor". University of Auckland. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Taylor, Alexander — ICREA". ICREA. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Rutherford Discovery Fellowships 2014". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Prime Minister's MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Winner 2015: Dr Alex Taylor". The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Psychologist Alex Taylor joins the UAB under an ERC Consolidator Grant". UAB. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ Taylor, AH; Hunt, GR; Holzhaider, JC; Gray, RD (2007-09-04). "Spontaneous metatool use by New Caledonian crows". Current Biology. 17 (17): 1504–1507. Bibcode:2007CBio...17.1504T. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.057. PMID 17702575.
- ^ Gruber, R; Schiestl, M; Boeckle, M; Frohnwieser, A; Miller, R; Gray, RD; Clayton, NS; Taylor, AH (2019-02-18). "New Caledonian Crows Use Mental Representations to Solve Metatool Problems". Current Biology. 29 (4): 686–692.e3. Bibcode:2019CBio...29E.686G. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.008. PMC 6384166. PMID 30744978.
- ^ McCoy, DE; Schiestl, M; Neilands, P; Hassall, R; Gray, RD; Taylor, AH (2019-08-19). "New Caledonian Crows Behave Optimistically after Using Tools". Current Biology. 29 (16): 2737–2742.e3. Bibcode:2019CBio...29E2737M. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.080. PMID 31378612.
- ^ Bastos, APM; Taylor, AH (2020-03-03). "Kea show three signatures of domain-general statistical inference". Nature Communications. 11 (3) 828. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11..828B. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14695-1. PMC 7052249. PMID 32123157.
- ^ Taylor, AH; Bastos, APM; Brown, RL; Allen, C (September 2022). "The signature-testing approach to mapping biological and artificial intelligences". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 26 (9): 738–750. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.002. PMID 35773138.
- ^ "Animal Minds". BBC. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "A Murder of Crows". PBS. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Chris Packham's Animal Einsteins". BBC. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Parrots Make Predictions Based On Statistical Probabilities". Forbes. 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Birdbrainy: New Caledonian crows make tools using mental images". The Guardian. 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
- ^ "Crow Cognition". The New York Times. 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2025-08-25.