Overview
My research interests lie at the intersection of vision, behavioral ecology, and evolution. I am currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow working with Laura Kelley at University of Exeter's Penryn Campus. Please visit my research website for more detailed, up to date information!
My research projects are all united by my interests in how organisms perceive their visual world, and how that perception influences the evolution of signaling behaviors, signal form, and interactions with con- and hetero-specifics. I work on a wide range of taxonomic groups, from cleaner shrimp to zebra finches. At Exeter, my research will focus on size perception and assessment of signal magnitude using swordtail fish.
Qualifications
2018: PhD, Duke University (USA), Biology
2012: MPhil, University of Cambridge (UK), Zoology
2011: BA, Pomona College (USA)
Career
2019-2021: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Exeter, PI: Dr. Laura Kelley
2018-2019: Post-doctoral associate, Duke University Biology Department, PI: Dr. Stephen Nowicki
Links
Research
Research interests
The ultimate goal of my research is to understand the perceptual worlds in which animals live, with a focus on animal vision. A perceptual experience (an “umwelt” as described by Jakob von Uexküll) is affected by both sensory physiology and higher-order processes: sensory systems filter information from the environment, which is then passed to the brain, where it may be further modified. However, we know little about how information from the sensory organs is processed in the brain in non-human animals, to result in behavioral outcomes.
I use animal behavior as a tool to understand perception, but my research also incorporates sensory physiology, sensory ecology, and receiver psychology. These fields are traditionally thought of separately, but they must all be considered to understand a perceptual experience. I use everything from model systems (zebra finches) to taxa not traditionally used for behavioral studies (Decapod shrimp), with room and potential to expand into other organismal groups.
Research projects
My research focuses on different stages of perceptual processing that occur when animals perceive visual signals, with a focus on three areas:
(1) how the information in a signal is transduced and filtered by an animal’s visual system, with a focus on visual acuity
(2) how perceptual processing can impact perception of visual signals, with a focus on categorical perception and proportional processing
(3) signal perception and behavioral outcomes, with a focus on signals by which animals assess and recognize one another.
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Caves EM, Green PA, Zipple MN, Bharath D, Peters S, Johnsen S, Nowicki S (2021). Comparison of categorical color perception in two estrildid finches.
American Naturalist,
197(2), 190-202.
Abstract:
Comparison of categorical color perception in two estrildid finches
Sensory systems are predicted to be adapted to the perception of important stimuli, such as signals used in communication. Prior work has shown that female zebra finches perceive the carotenoid-based orange-red coloration of male beaks—a mate choice signal—categorically. Specifically, females exhibited an increased ability to discriminate between colors from opposite sides of a perceptual category boundary than equally different colors from the same side of the boundary. The Bengalese finch, an estrildid finch related to the zebra finch, is black, brown, and white, lacking carotenoid coloration. To explore the relationship between categorical color perception and signal use, we tested Bengalese finches using the same orange-red continuum as in zebra finches, and we also tested how both species discriminated among colors differing systematically in hue and brightness. Unlike in zebra finches, we found no evidence of categorical perception of an orange-red continuum in Bengalese finches. Instead, we found that the combination of chromatic distance (hue difference) and Michelson contrast (difference in brightness) strongly correlated with color discrimination ability on all tested color pairs in Bengalese finches. The pattern was different in zebra finches: this strong correlation held when discriminating between colors from different categories but not when discriminating between colors from within the same category. These experiments suggest that categorical perception is not a universal feature of avian—or even estrildid finch—vision. Our findings also provide further insights into the mechanism underlying categorical perception and are consistent with the hypothesis that categorical perception is adapted for signal perception.
Abstract.
Caves EM, Schweikert LE, Green PA, Zipple MN, Taboada C, Peters S, Nowicki S, Johnsen S (2020). Variation in carotenoid-containing retinal oil droplets correlates with variation in perception of carotenoid coloration.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,
74(7).
Full text.
Publications by year
2021
Caves EM, Green PA, Zipple MN, Bharath D, Peters S, Johnsen S, Nowicki S (2021). Comparison of categorical color perception in two estrildid finches.
American Naturalist,
197(2), 190-202.
Abstract:
Comparison of categorical color perception in two estrildid finches
Sensory systems are predicted to be adapted to the perception of important stimuli, such as signals used in communication. Prior work has shown that female zebra finches perceive the carotenoid-based orange-red coloration of male beaks—a mate choice signal—categorically. Specifically, females exhibited an increased ability to discriminate between colors from opposite sides of a perceptual category boundary than equally different colors from the same side of the boundary. The Bengalese finch, an estrildid finch related to the zebra finch, is black, brown, and white, lacking carotenoid coloration. To explore the relationship between categorical color perception and signal use, we tested Bengalese finches using the same orange-red continuum as in zebra finches, and we also tested how both species discriminated among colors differing systematically in hue and brightness. Unlike in zebra finches, we found no evidence of categorical perception of an orange-red continuum in Bengalese finches. Instead, we found that the combination of chromatic distance (hue difference) and Michelson contrast (difference in brightness) strongly correlated with color discrimination ability on all tested color pairs in Bengalese finches. The pattern was different in zebra finches: this strong correlation held when discriminating between colors from different categories but not when discriminating between colors from within the same category. These experiments suggest that categorical perception is not a universal feature of avian—or even estrildid finch—vision. Our findings also provide further insights into the mechanism underlying categorical perception and are consistent with the hypothesis that categorical perception is adapted for signal perception.
Abstract.
2020
Caves EM, Schweikert LE, Green PA, Zipple MN, Taboada C, Peters S, Nowicki S, Johnsen S (2020). Variation in carotenoid-containing retinal oil droplets correlates with variation in perception of carotenoid coloration.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,
74(7).
Full text.
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