Massimo de Agro
Visiting Doctoral Researcher
Address:
Room D4.1.319
Lehrstuhl für Zoologie / Evolutionsbiologie
Biologie I
Universität Regensburg
Universitätstrasse 31
D-93053 Regensburg
Phone:
(+49) 941 943 3356
Email:
About me:
I am a comparative psychologist in the laboratory of Prof. Lucia Regolin, where I study visual cognition in jumping spiders. I am quickly learning how much easier working with ants is.
Current projects
Peak-end rule effects in ants
Humans overemphasise the most extreme and final parts of a multi-part event, such as meal. Is that also true in ants? Preliminary results say: maybe.
Are the ants capable of learning abstract associations?
We will test the ability of ants to learn the concept of “sameness” and “difference” - abstract concepts often considered to require advanced cognitive abilities. In collaboration with Felix Oberhauser.
Risk preference in ants
What would you prefer: $100 for sure, or a 50% chance of winning $200? Most humans prefer the same bet. What would ants do? Results hot off the press: they are even more risk averse then humans. Future experiments in collaboration with Daniel Grimwade will look at how far this risk aversion goes.
