Animal Behavior, Online
Julie Hecht, Psychology
Faculty Advisor: Diana Reiss
NML Award: The New Media Lab Digital Dissertation Award (April 2017)
Although cats outnumber dogs as companion animals, far fewer studies explore cat behavior, cognition, and welfare. In the past 20 years, our understanding of companion dogs has increased exponentially, primarily because companion dogs easily participate in food-based studies, often in novel settings and with new people. Cats, as you would imagine, do not easily take to this setup. To study who cats are and what makes them tick we must find a way to do so on their terms. My PhD aims to broaden the way psychologists and ethologists study cats by incorporating participatory science. Stay tuned. More details to come…