Dr David Leavens

Biography

Sussex University: Psychology Home Page

Education:
   1990     BSc Anthropology (with honors, Phi Beta Kappa), University of California at Riverside
   1993     MA Anthropology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
   2001     PhD Psychology, University of Georgia

Academic Posts Held:
   1998-1999      Part-time Lecturer, University of Georgia
   2000-2002      Junior Lecturer, University of Sussex
   2002-2005      Lecturer, University of Sussex
   2005-Present  Senior Lecturer, University of Sussex

Role

Visiting and Exchange Student Academic Advisor (Psychology)

I'm a biopsychologist with primary interests in nonverbal communication by apes and humans  and behavioural indices of anxiety.  I have primarily studied visual and vocal communication in apes (since 1994) and humans (since 2000), with a special emphasis on joint attention, or the negotiation of shared attentional focus.  This ability to follow into another's attentional focus, or to re-direct the attention of another, takes months to develop in our own species, and I have been exploring the socio-ecological influences on joint attention in apes and humans.  This work on non-verbal reference has led my colleagues and I to posit a Referential Problem Space, in which pointing and other mechanisms for joint attention emerge when organisms capable of means-ends reasoning are reliant upon others to act on the world for them--a situation that characterises both human infants and captive apes. 

Much of my research into chimpanzee communication stems from a disturbing realisation, in 1994, that I had been trained to a high standard of performance by a chimpanzee named Clint.

Past and current research topics include:

1. How chimpanzees manipulate the attention of their social partners, with Prof. Bill Hopkins, Ms. Jamie Russell, and Dr. Jared Taglialatela, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Prof. Kim Bard, University of Portsmouth, and Dr. Autumn Hostetter, University of Wisconsin. (1994 to present).

2. How human babies and their parents share attention, with Dr. Brenda Todd, City University (formerly University of Sussex) (2000-present).

3. How self-directed behaviours (such as scratching) by chimpanzees and humans change in response to manipulations of task difficulty or anxiety, with Dr. Filippo Aureli, Liverpool Johns Moore University, and Dr. Bill Hopkins, Yerkes National Primate Research Center. (1996-2006).

4. Age-related changes in mirror self-recognition in human children, with Prof. Kim Bard, University of Portsmouth, and Dr. Brenda Todd, City University (formerly University of Sussex) (2004-2006).

5. Epistemological foundations of social cognitive development in human infants and apes, with Dr. Timothy Racine, Simon Fraser University, Canada (2006-present), and Dr. Tom Froese, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (formerly at University of Sussex), Mexico  (2012-present).

6. Kinaesthetic-tactile detection of agency in a minimalist communication system, a project on which I served as a consultant to Dr. Ezequiel Di Paolo, Dr. Hanneke De Jaegher, and Dr. Rachel Wood, and their colleagues at the Informatics Department at the University of Sussex. (2007-2009).

7. Lateral asymmetries in great ape and human behaviour; inductive models of praxis, with Dr. Gillian S. Forrester, University of Westminster (formerly at University of Sussex) (2005-present).

Course Convenor for:

    Contemporary Issues in Psychology (Year 1 Option)
    Gestural Communication in Apes and Human Infants (Year 3 Option)

I also lecture on:

    Developmental Psychology (Year 2 and Masters Core Courses)
    Research Methods in Psychology (Year 2 and Masters Core Course)
    

Student Consultation

By appointment only between terms.

Lyn, Heidi, Russell, Jamie L, Leavens, David A, Bard, Kim A, Boysen , Sarah T, Schaeffer, Jennifer A and Hopkins, William D (2013) Apes communicate about absent and displaced objects: methodology matters. Animal Cognition. ISSN 1435-9456

Leavens, David (2013) Foreword: Pointing: where embodied cognition meets the symbolic mind. Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies, 24. iii-x. ISSN 1972-1293

Forrester, Gillian S, Quaresmini, Caterina, Leavens, David A, Mareschal, Denis and Thomas, Michael S (2013) Human handedness: an inherited evolutionary trait. Behavioural Brain Research, 237 (1). pp. 200-206. ISSN 0166-4328

Leavens, David A (2012) Pointing: contexts and instrumentality. In: Developments in Primate Gesture Research. Gesture Studies (6). John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, pp. 181-197. ISBN 9789027228482

Leavens, David A, Ely, Jon, Hopkins, William D and Bard, Kim A (2012) Effects of cage mesh on pointing: hand shapes in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Animal Cognition, 15 (3). pp. 437-441. ISSN 1435-9448

Racine, Timothy P, Wereha, Tyler J and Leavens, David A (2012) Primates, motion and emotion: to what extent nonhuman primates are intersubjective and why. In: Moving ourselves, moving others: motion and emotion in intersubjectivity, consciousness and language. Consciousness & Emotion Book Series (6). John Benjamins Publishing Co, Amsterdam, pp. 221-242. ISBN 978 90 272 4156 6

Leavens, David A (2012) Joint attention: twelve myths. In: Joint attention: New developments in Psychology, Philosophy of Mind, and Social Neuroscience. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 43-72. ISBN 9780262016827

Forrester, Gillian S, Quaresmini, Caterina, Leavens, David A, Spiezio, Caterina and Vallortigara, Giorgio (2012) Target animacy influences chimpanzee handedness. Animal Cognition, 15 (6). pp. 1121-1127. ISSN 1435-9448

Forrester, Gillian S, Leavens, David A, Quaresmini, Caterina and Vallortigara, Giorgio (2011) Target animacy influences gorilla handedness. Animal Cognition, 14 (6). pp. 903-907. ISSN 1435-9448

Hopkins, William D, Taglialatela, J. P. and Leavens, David (2011) Do chimpanzees have voluntary control of their facial expressions and vocalizations? In: Primate communication and human language : vocalisation, gestures, imitation and deixis in humans and non-humans. John Benjamins Pub, pp. 71-90. ISBN 9789027204547

Leavens, David and Bard, Kim A (2011) Environmental influences on joint attention in great apes: implications for human cognition. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 10 (1). pp. 9-31. ISSN 1945-8959

Leavens, David A, Bard, Kim A and Hopkins, William D (2010) BIZARRE chimpanzees do not represent "the chimpanzee". Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33 (2-3). pp. 100-101. ISSN 0140-525X

Hopkins, W. D., Taglialatela, J. P., Leavens, David, Russell, J. L. and Schapiro, S (2010) Behavioral and brain asymmetries in chimpanzees. In: The mind of the chimpanzee : ecological and experimental perspectives. University of Chicago Press, pp. 60-74. ISBN 9780226492780

Leavens, David A, Russell, Jamie L and Hopkins, William D (2010) Multimodal communication by captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Animal Cognition, 13 (1). pp. 33-40. ISSN 1435-9448

Leavens, David A (2009) Animal communication: laughter is the shortest distance between two apes. Current Biology, 19 (13). R511-R513. ISSN 0960-9822

Leavens, David and Racine, Timothy P (2009) Joint attention in apes and humans: are humans unique? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 16 (6-8). pp. 240-267. ISSN 1355-8250

Bard, K. A. and Leavens, David (2009) Socio-emotional factors in the development of joint attention in human and ape infants. In: Learning from animals? : examining the nature of human uniqueness. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781841697079

Leavens, David, Racine, T. P. and Hopkins, W. D. (2009) The ontogeny and phylogeny of non-verbal deixis. In: The prehistory of language. Oxford University Press,, pp. 142-165. ISBN 9780199545872

Leavens, David A (2008) Invited commentary on: Arbib, Michael; Liebal, Katja & Pika, Simone 'Primate Vocalization, Gesture, and the Evolution of Human Language'. Current Anthropology, 49 (6). pp. 1065-1066. ISSN 0011-3204

Thomas, Emily, Murphy, Mary, Pitt, Rebecca, Rivers, Angela and Leavens, David (2008) Understanding of visual attention by adult humans (Homo sapiens): a partial replication of Povinelli, Bierschwale, and Cech (1999). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 122 (4). pp. 428-436. ISSN 0735-7036

Racine, T. P., Leavens, David, Susswein, N and Wereha, T. J. (2008) Conceptual and methodological issues in the investigation of primate intersubjectivity. In: Enacting Intersubjectivity: A Cognitive and Social Perspective on the Study of Interactions. IOS Press. ISBN 9781586038502

Leavens, David, Hopkins, William D and Bard, Kim A (2008) The heterochronic origins of explicit reference. In: The shared mind : perspectives on intersubjectivity. John Benjamins Pub. Co, pp. 187-214. ISBN 9789027239006

Leavens, David A (2008) Of handedness, homology, and hopeful monsters. Laterality, 13 (6). pp. 561-568. ISSN 1357-650X

Leavens, David A (2007) Animal cognition: multimodal tactics of orangutan communication. Current Biology, 17 (17). R762-R764. ISSN 0960-9822

Hopkins, W. D., Taglialatela, J. P. and Leavens, David (2007) Chimpanzees differentially produce novel vocalizations to capture the attention of a human. Animal Behaviour, 73 (2). pp. 281-286. ISSN 0003-3472

Hopkins, W. D., Russell, J. L., Freeman, H, Reynolds, E. A. M., Griffis, C and Leavens, David (2006) Lateralized scratching in chimpanzees: evidence of a functional asymmetry during arousal. Emotion, 6 (4). pp. 553-559. ISSN 1528-3542

Leavens, David A (2006) It takes time and experience to learn how to interpret gaze in mentalistic terms. Infant and Child Development, 15 (2). pp. 187-190. ISSN 1522-7227

Bard, K. A., Todd, Brenda, Bernier, C, Love, J and Leavens, David (2006) Self-awareness in human and chimpanzee infants: what is measured and what is meant by the mark and mirror test? Infancy, 9 (2). pp. 191-219. ISSN 1525-0008

Leavens, David, Hopkins, William D and Bard, Kim A (2005) Understanding the point of chimpanzee pointing: epigenesis and ecological validity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14 (4). pp. 185-189. ISSN 0963-7214

Leavens, David, Russell, J. L. and Hopkins, W. D. (2005) Intentionality as measured in the persistence and elaboration of communication by chimpanzees (Pan troglodyes). Child Development, 76 (1). pp. 291-306. ISSN 0009-3920

Leavens, David and Hopkins, William D (2005) Multimodal concomitants of manual gesture by chimpanzees: influence of food size and distance. Gesture, 5 (1-2). pp. 75-90. ISSN 1568-1475

Leavens, David A (2004) Review of Pointing: Where Language, Culture and Cognition Meet, S. Kita (Ed.); Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003; ISBN 0-8058-4014-1. Cognitive Systems Research, 5 (2). pp. 157-165. ISSN 1389-0417

Leavens, David, Hopkins, William D and Thomas, Roger K (2004) Referential communication by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 118 (1). pp. 48-57. ISSN 0735-7036

Leavens, David, Hostetter, A. B, Wesley, M. J. and Hopkins, W. D. (2004) Tactical use of unimodal and bimodal communication by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Animal Behaviour, 67 (3). pp. 467-476. ISSN 0003-3472

Leavens, David, Aureli, F and Hopkins, W. D. (2004) Behavioral evidence for the cutaneous expression of emotion in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Behaviour, 141 (8). pp. 979-997. ISSN 0005-7959

Bard, K. A, Leavens, David, Custance, D, Vancatova, M, Keller, H, Benga, O and Sousa, C (2004) Emotion cognition: comparative perspectives on the social cognition of emotion. Cognitie Creier Comportament , 8 (3-4). pp. 351-362. ISSN 1224-8398

Leavens, David A (2004) Manual deixis in apes and humans. Interaction Studies, 5 (3). pp. 387-408. ISSN 1572-0373

Leavens, David A (2003) Integration of visual and vocal communication: evidence for Miocene origins. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26 (2). pp. 232-233. ISSN 0140-525X

Leavens, David (2002) On the public nature of communication. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25 (5). pp. 631-632. ISSN 0140-525X

Leavens, David, Aureli, F, Hopkins, W. D. and Hyatt, C. W. (2001) The effects of cognitive challenge on self-directed behaviors by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology, 55 (1). pp. 1-14. ISSN 0275-2565

Leavens, David and Hopkins, W. D. (1999) The whole hand point: the structure and function of pointing from a comparative perspective. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 113 (4). pp. 417-425. ISSN 07357036

Hopkins, William D and Leavens, David (1999) Hand use and gestural communication in chimpanzees. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 112 (1). pp. 95-99. ISSN 07357036

Leavens, David and Hopkins, W. D. (1998) Intentional communication by chimpanzees: a cross-sectional study of the use of referential gestures. Developmental Psychology, 34 (5). pp. 813-822. ISSN 00121649

Leavens, David A (1998) Having a concept 'see' does not imply attribution of knowledge: some general considerations in measuring 'theories of mind'. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21 (01). pp. 123-124. ISSN 0140-525X

Hyatt, C. W. and Leavens, David (1997) An inexpensive liquid dispenser. Behavior Research Methods, 29 (3). pp. 448-449. ISSN 1554-351X

Hyatt, C. W. and Leavens, David (1997) An inexpensive reinforcement dispenser. Behavior Research Methods, 29 (3). pp. 446-447. ISSN 1554-351X

Leavens, David, Hopkins, W. D. and Bard, K. A. (1996) Indexical and referential pointing in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 110 (4). pp. 346-353. ISSN 07357036