Alex Benjamin
Senior Lecturer

Profile

Biography

• BSc in Psychology, University of York
• MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of York
• PhD in Psychology (pending viva), University of York; Understanding social communication between humans and dogs
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of York 2015-2018

Research

Overview

I am currently interested in social communication between humans and animals. My work focusses on communication with dogs, including the production of dog-directed speech, and how dogs respond to communicative signals such as body language.

Some of my current projects aim to investigate the acoustic properties of infant- and pet-directed speech registers, individual differences in production of dog-directed speech, and the use of contextual barking in dogs. I am also interested in how dogs respond to these different properties, including their response to differences in language and affect.

Collaborators

• Professor Katie Slocombe (University of York): Dog-Human Communication and dog-directed speech.
• Dr Sally Quinn, Dr Lisa-Marie Henderson and Professor Katie Slocombe (University of York): Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
• Professor Alex Wade, Dr Daniel Baker and Kirstie Wailes-Newson (University of York): Locomotion and Surround suppression in human vision.

Publications

Selected publications

• Benjamin, A. & Slocombe, K. (2018) ‘Who’s a good boy?!’ Dogs prefer naturalistic dog-directed speech Animal Cognition,  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-018-1172-4
• Benjamin, A, Wailes-Newson, K., Ma-Wyatt, A., Baker, D.H., and Wade, A.R., (2018) The effect of locomotion on early visual contrast processing in humans. Journal of Neuroscience, 1428-17; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1428-17.2017
• Quinn, S., Henderson, L., Benjamin, A., Slocombe,K., (2017) To structure or not to structure: the efficacy of an interactive exercise for understanding the importance of structure. International Journal of Teaching and Education, 5(2), pp. 74-92, DOI: 10.20472/TE.2017.5.2.005
• Wade, A.R., & Benjamin, A.V., (2013). How do we see color? Frontiers for Young Minds available at http://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/how_do_we_see_color/10/

Teaching

Undergraduate

BSc Psychology:

• Research Methods
• Academic Skills
• 3^rd Year Projects
• Literature Surveys
• Tutorials

External activities