Most published claims of sex-dependent effects in the neurosciences are missing statistical evidence that the effect differed by sex. We can do better. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @ossdcomm.bsky.social @sbn-bsky.bsky.social @emoryuniversity.bsky.social @pnas.org @colbyvorland.bsky.social
Prof. Gillian Brown
@gillianrbrown1.bsky.social
Professor of psychology; University of St Andrews, UK; gender/sex, evolution, culture; she/her. 🌈 New edition: 'Sense & Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behaviour' (https://tinyurl.com/yfv2kc27) Lab: https://gillianbrown.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk
Beyond bias: building a more inclusive and rigorous research culture in #animal #behavior AnimBeh
Beyond bias: building a more inclusive and rigorous research culture in #animal #behavior
Publication date: September 2026 Source: Animal Behaviour, Volume 239 Author(s): Claudia A.F. Wascher, Nicola Koyama, Vivek Nityananda
dlvr.it
Looking for an Associate Prof position? Interested in behavioural ecology & cultural evolution? Come join us at the Dpt of Ecology and Evolution in Lausanne🇨🇭 @dee-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social! Great department & great place to live. Pls RP. Apply here: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli...
doi.org/10.1007/s102... #SPEetologia Research on European serins and common waxbills shows that female ornamentation is highly influenced by ecological and physiological factors. These highlight female colour plasticity as a key driver of sexual dichromatism and the evolution of visual signals.
Sex differences in bird ornamentation: female plasticity, ecological and physiological constraints - acta ethologica
Sexual dimorphism in bird ornamentation is well-documented, with male traits often emphasized in sexual selection studies, while female ornamentation remains understudied. Investigating European serins (Serinus serinus) and common waxbills (Estrilda astrild), I summarize experimental evidence revealing that sex differences in ornamentation arise from sex-specific ecological and physiological constraints, particularly affecting females. In European serins, female ornamentation does not function as a sexual or dominance signal, contrasting with males. In common waxbills, female bill colouration is highly plastic and sensitive to ecological conditions and oestradiol levels, leading to context-dependent sexual dichromatism that can be reduced or eliminated under favourable conditions. Together, these results challenge the view that sexual dichromatism is predominantly genetically fixed and male driven, highlighting female colouration plasticity as a key source of variation in ornamentation and social signalling. These findings underscore the need to integrate female colour variation for understanding the evolution of sexual and social signals.
doi.org
Job posting: Associate Professor in behavioral ecology and cultural evolution within the Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE) at the University of Lausanne. Deadline for applications is 30.09.2026: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli... (there is a button to switch to English at the top right)
wwwfbm.unil.ch
Gladstone et al (2026): "biographies of female scientists disproportionately emphasized effort even after adjusting for the obstacles they faced, consistent with stereotypes attributing women’s success to hard work over talent." 🧪 #psychscisky
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is ”Children’s books about scientists convey demotivating messages.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/oTon50ZuLj3 For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/TsjY50ZuLj2.
A Demographic Theory of Similarity-Biased Social Learning. Now out in PNAS, led by the incomparable @apvelilla.bsky.social . We use modeling to explore conditions for the (cultural) evolution of parochial (and anti-parochial) learning biases. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
🚨 PNAS paper: "Indirect reciprocity undermines indirect reciprocity destabilizing large-scale cooperation" w/ Eric Schnell How do we achieve global cooperation on climate or conflict reduction? The problem isn't selfishness as much as it is cooperation itself - at a smaller scale. 1/
Representation in Psychology – just another impossible problem? Megan E. Birney (University of Birmingham) considers a WEIRD, but worryingly pervasive, research issue. Plus a response from the British Psychological Society's Academic Publications Team. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
Representation in Psychology – just another impossible problem? | BPS
Megan E. Birney (University of Birmingham) considers a WEIRD, but worryingly pervasive, research issue. Plus a response from the British Psychological Society's Academic Publications Team.
bps.org.uk
New article!: The Origins and Evolution of Writing www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... 🧵1/
The Origins and Evolution of Writing
For centuries, scholars have debated the etiology and evolution of writing. The most persistent concerns relate to the relationship between writing and social organization, linguistic structure, and c...
annualreviews.org
“This paper explores the evolution of hereditarianism in its various forms, examining its connections to racism and anti-egalitarian politics. A consistent theme is the belief in the potential for genetic explanations of social inequalities both within and between groups”
Hereditarianism: a century of the science of inequality - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Hereditarianism, the belief that genetic factors significantly influence differences in behavioral traits and social outcomes, remains relevant in the age of polygenic embryo screening and social scie...
link.springer.com
Empirical evidence suggests human cooperation often departs from classic reciprocity models. Long-term relationships, partner choice, and relationship maintenance may be more central than tit-for-tat-like exchange. Rethinking Reciprocity(Mathew & Boyd, 2026): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Call to incorporate feminist theory into evolutionary psychology research on incels: "By looking at how men's expectations are constructed in society, EP could offer solutions that do not reaffirm sexual marketplaces but emancipate men from the discourses that suggest they must function in them"
Feminism is for every (academic) body: A critical commentary of evolutionary psychology incel research - Stu Lucy, 2026
Involuntary celibates, or ‘incels’, continue to receive increasing attention from a variety of academic positions. While most scholarship has added important co...
doi.org
Scientific publishing and diversity in science: geographical bias of articles published in #animal #behavior AnimBeh
Scientific publishing and diversity in science: geographical bias of articles published in #animal #behavior
Publication date: Available online 24 July 2026 Source: Animal Behaviour Author(s): Edward W. Legg, Ljerka Ostojić
dlvr.it
Cultural Evolution of Perfumes since 1900 https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.19520 Perfumes are cultural artifacts and works of sensory art, composed from a finite, recombinable palette of notes that together evoke a distinctive scent impression. Here, we assemble the largest perfume corpus compiled ...📈🤖
New issue of #PhilTransB: Ecological #epigenetics at the intersection of behaviour and life history variation in non-model animals. Read #OA: buff.ly/6v4pqCo
🦋 Ethology, Literature and the Arts: how animal behaviour shapes philosophy, cinema, music & art. 📍 Erice, Sicily — 24-27 Sep 2026 Ettore Majorana Foundation · dir. A. Vitale & S. Pollo 10 speakers, one cross-disciplinary conversation. 🔗 centromajorana.it/ethoart2026 #EthoArt2026 #ethology
I have a new paper out in Science today with colleagues Damian Blasi, Marcus Hamilton, and Russell Gray. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene
Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...
science.org
How many languages have existed over the Holocene—and what does that reveal about the design space of languages and cultures? Now out in @science.org www.science.org/eprint/QDZNY....
The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene
Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...
science.org
Fancy joining a vibrant, dynamic & collegiate School of Psychology? We've got three lectureships available, and it be great to see applications from health psychology colleagues. Deadline 5th August www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSE550/l...
Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Psychology (Three Posts) at University of Leeds
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Psychology (Three Posts) on jobs.ac.uk!
jobs.ac.uk
🔺Psychology Job 🔺 Assistant Professor in Psychology (Grade 8) at Durham Uni to support our new MSc Psychology (Conversion) You should use computational approaches, incl machine learning and artificial intelligence Closing date 30th Aug Please share! #Psychology #AcademicSky #PhDSky More info 👇
Assistant Professor (Research %26 Education)
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
durham.taleo.net
Do animals use names? Conceptual and empirical criteria: Trends in Cognitive Sciences www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Do animals use names? Conceptual and empirical criteria
In recent years, several claims have been put forth suggesting that animals of different species address each other using receiver-specific calls that function as individual names. If accurate, this w...
cell.com
“this epistemic exclusion (in)visibly shapes the academic community, determining whose voices are heard and what kind of knowledge is shared and taken seriously” academic.oup.com/isp/advance-...
Forum: The Passports They Carry: Global South Scholars and the Global Academic Mobility Divide
Abstract. Passport inequality is more than a simple logistical inconvenience; it is a fundamental injustice that undermines the ideals of fairness and equa
academic.oup.com
Cool new paper about correcting the biases in cultural data using methods from ecology. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Correcting collection bias in comparative studies of diversity
Abstract. Comparative analyses of diversity in human populations often rely on historical, archival and observational data, which are systematically shaped
royalsocietypublishing.org
New paper! Values such as openness, transparency, collaboration, clarity about conflict of interests have been promoted by women for *decades*, and now we have reframed this around the branding of 'open science' that we start to take them seriously. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Women as the First Open Scientists: Five Stories of the Neglected Contributions of Women in (Social) Science Reform History - Madeleine Pownall, 2026
Recent years have seen growing emphasis on “Open Science,” a movement to enhance research transparency, robustness, and accountability. Prompted by concerns ove...
journals.sagepub.com
How can multilayer networks expand our understanding of sexual selection and mate choice? AnimBeh
How can multilayer networks expand our understanding of sexual selection and mate choice?
Publication date: August 2026 Source: Animal Behaviour, Volume 238 Author(s): Noa Pinter-Wollman, Gil Rosenthal
dlvr.it
New article - open access link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Human Nature and Human Progress - Jus Cogens
This essay asks what it would mean for human beings to make progress once human nature is understood neither as a fixed essence nor as an empty idea. I argue that progress should be understood as the ...
link.springer.com
Three new lectureship positions available at the School of Psychology, University of Leeds: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSE550/l...
Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Psychology (Three Posts) at University of Leeds
Discover an exciting academic career path as a Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Psychology (Three Posts) at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!
jobs.ac.uk