| Post: | Associate Tutor (Psychology) |
| Other posts: | Jsps Postdoctoral Fellow (Psychology) |
| Location: | Pevensey 2 3b6 |
| Email: | L.C.Proops@sussex.ac.uk |
| Personal homepage: | Home.html |
Telephone numbers | |
| Internal: | 6602 |
| UK: | (01273) 876602 |
| International: | +44 1273 876602 |
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Biography
BSc Psychology (1st Class Hons), Sussex, 1997.
MSc Animal Behaviour (Dist.), Exeter, 2006.
DPhil student, Sussex, current.
Awarded Cozzarelli Prize 2009 for best PNAS paper in Behavioral and Social Sciences in 2008
My thesis is titled Social Cognition in Horses.
This project assesses socio-cognitive abilities in domestic horses. The work spans both horse-horse and horse-human communication.
This research includes:
An assessment of the individual vocal recognition abilities of domestic horses. Using a cross modal paradigm I was able to determine that horses are able to recognise individual conspecifics. Current research involves assessing the plasticity of this recognition system by determining if horses are also capapble of cross-modal recognition of human handlers.
An assessment of the ability of domestic horses to read human behaviour. I ws able to show that horses are extemely sensitive to human attentional cues but are less able to use human communicative cues in an object choice task.
I am also interested in determining the genetic basis of equine behaviour by comparing horse, donkey and mule (hybrid) cognition.
Proops, Leanne and McComb, Karen (2012) Cross-modal individual recognition in domestic horses (Equus caballus) extends to familiar humans. Proceedings B: Biological sciences, 279 (1741). pp. 3131-3138. ISSN 1471-2954
Proops, Leanne, Walton, Meggen and McComb, Karen (2010) The use of human-given cues by domestic horses, Equus caballus, during an object choice task. Animal Behaviour, 79 (6). pp. 1205-1209. ISSN 0003-3472
Proops, Leanne and McComb, Karen (2010) Attributing attention: the use of human-given cues by domestic horses (Equus caballus). Animal Cognition, 13 (2). pp. 197-205. ISSN 1435-9448
Proops, Leanne, Burden, Faith and Osthaus, Britta (2009) Mule cognition: a case of hybrid vigour? Animal Cognition, 12 (1). pp. 75-84. ISSN 1435-9448
Proops, Leanne, McComb, Karen and Reby, David (2009) Cross-modal indivdual recognition in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106 (3). pp. 947-951. ISSN 1091-6490