Time: 3–5pm

Location: Fayerweather 513

We are very happy to welcome Julia Hyland Bruno, a Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience at Columbia University for a presentation of her research.

Animal Interchanges

What makes a group activity coordinated? Conversation, for instance, relies on some degree of alternation, or turn-taking. Conventions of conversational turn-taking vary by culture, but all showcase human capacities for sensorimotor adaptation and control. While these real-time adjustments play an important role in mediating social cohesion (and conflict), turn-taking is not unique to humans. This discussion will explore general behavioral mechanisms of social coordination, with a focus on the zebra finch, a gregarious songbird.

Suggested readings (please email me at meh2230 [at] columbia.edu if you require access to these articles):

Hyland Bruno, J. & Tchernichovski, O. (2017). Regularities in zebra finch song beyond the repeated motif. Behavioural Processes. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.11.001.

Levinson, S.C. (2016). Turn-taking in human communication–origins and implications for language processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20, 6-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.10.010.