The Comparative Cognition Society (CCS) is one of the primary scientific societies for the study of

animal cognition Animal cognition encompasses the mental capacities of non-human animals including insect cognition. The study of animal conditioning and learning used in this field was developed from comparative psychology. It has also been strongly influenc ...

and

comparative psychology Comparative psychology refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. Research in this area addr ...

. The CCS is a non-profit, international society dedicated to gaining a greater understanding of the nature and evolution of cognition in human and non-human animals.

Membership

Members of the CCS include university professors, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. Members come from many different disciplines including

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and applied

animal behaviour Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...

. Membership to the society supports the annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition (CO3) in Melbourne, Florida. The CCS also organizes a Fall Meeting conference, coordinated with the annual meeting of the

Psychonomic Society The Psychonomic Society is an international scientific society of over 4,500 scientists in the field of experimental psychology. The mission of the Psychonomic Society is to foster the science of cognition through the advancement and communicati ...

.CCS , CCS Fall Meeting 2013
/ref>

History

The society was formed in 1999 by 100 or so active researchers in the area of comparative cognition. The society's founding president (1999-2000) was Ron Weisman. Since its formation, CCS has been run by both new and founding members, elected as part of the executive board.

Meetings

One of the primary functions of the society is sponsorship of the annual Conference on Comparative Cognition (CO3). The first informal meeting of the conference was held in March, 1994 in Melbourne, Florida. With the founding of the CCS in 1999, CO3 became a formalized conference. Over the years, CO3 has included talks on over 100 species by scientists from over a dozen countries. CO3 brings together new and returning researchers from across the world who present talks and posters about their work. Each year at CO3, an eminent researcher in the field is honoured with the CCS Research Award and asked to give a master lecture. Past honourees include

Sara Shettleworth Sara J. Shettleworth (born 1943) is an American-born, Canadian experimental psychologist and zoologist. Her research focuses on animal cognition. She is professor emerita of psychology and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of ...

, Alex Kacelnik,

Alan Kamil Alan C. Kamil is an American experimental psychologist. He is the Director, School of Biological Sciences and George Holmes Professor of Biological Sciences and Psychology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Kamil's work focusses on the evolu ...

, Thomas Zentall,

Edward Wasserman Edward A. ('Ed') Wasserman is a professor of psychology at the University of Iowa. His research focusses on comparing cognitive processes in human and non-human animals. Wasserman has over 250 publications in peer reviewed academic journals. In 2 ...

, Karen Hollis and Ron Weisman. A special paper session is held discussing the impact of the honouree on the scientific community each year, and an issue of the journal ''Behavioural Processes'' including articles related to the talks at the special session is published. Beginning in 2008 CCS has sponsored a fall meeting in cooperation with the

. The fall meeting coincides with the annual meeting of the Psychonomic society.

On-Line Journal

CCS publishes the online journal, Comparative Cognition and Behavior Reviews. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews is an open-access, peer-reviewed electronic journal of substantive reviews and constructive critiques in the area of animal cognition. The topics for these reviews and critiques include all aspects of research on cognition, perception, learning, memory and behavior in animals. Current issue: Volume 12 (2017) - Co-editors: Marcia Spetch, Christopher Sturdy, & Anna Wilkinson.

E-Books

The CCS has also published two electronic books: Avian Visual Cognition and Animal Spatial Cognition: Comparative, Neural, and Computational Approaches.

Proceedings

Beginning with the ninth annual CO3 conference, the society has published the proceedings of the conference online.

References

External links

CO3 Master lecture videos

Official website
{{Authority control Psychology organizations based in the United States Cognitive science organizations Professional associations based in the United States Psychological societies