- x3149
- Drop-ins during semester office hours welcome and by appointment
- PSY100 General Psychology
- PSY207 Principles of Learning w/lab
- PSY212 Behavioral Neuroscience w/lab
- PSY225 Stats and Research Methods I
- PSY325 Stats and Research Methods II
Dr. Rebecca Singer worked as an animal trainer and zookeeper for 5 years between undergraduate and graduate school. A short list of the variety of species she has worked with include:
* Marine mammals, training dolphins at the University of Hawaii's Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lab and seals/sea lions at the University of California, Santa Cruz
* Wolves at the International Wolf Center
* Giant Pandas in both Zoo Atlanta and the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center
* Chimpanzees at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center
Working with the animals in these capacities instilled a drive to conduct research on learning and cognition in animals with the goal to improve both physical and cognitive enrichment environments for animals under human care. Dr. Singer completed her master's and PhD at the University of Kentucky, where she specialized in animal learning and cognition. After graduation, she spent several years conducting research on object permanence in marine mammals focusing on the comparison of echolocating marine mammals versus non-echolocating marine mammals.
As it became more difficult to conduct marine mammal research outside the United States, her research focus shifted to the growing field of animal assisted services. Dr. Singer developed a summer reading intervention for children with Down Syndrome using dog therapy and then transitioned to offering a similar program to children with reading difficulties in the public elementary school systems. "I am interested in conducting research that serves the local community and hope this becomes a regular program at local elementary schools in Berea. I will do all I can to make that a reality."
Another area of research activity is studying self-control in dogs. She is collaborating on projects to study what affects self-control behavior, whether training self-control in one context will generalize to other contexts, and what pieces of "trainer wisdom" are accurate and supported by science. The goal of this research, as well as her interest in socialization in kittens, is to increase adoption rates and outcomes of local animal shelters.
Outside teaching and research, Dr. Singer spends time trying to build enrichment activities for her cats, which they routinely reject.
- Ph.D. Experimental Psychology, University of Kentucky, 2008
- Graduate Certificate in College Teaching and Learning, University of Kentucky, 2006
- M.S. Experimental Psychology, University of Kentucky, 2003
- B.S. Biology, Mary Washington College, 1997
Research Interests:
Role of therapy animals (dogs) in elementary school reading interventions
Physiological testing of stress in therapy animals during participation in therapy sessions to improve and ensure animal welfare
Providing empirical evidence for or against "animal trainer wisdom"
- currently this means testing theories of self-control in dogs
Early socialization in kittens and the link to adoption rates
Selected Publications:
Silver, Z.A., Furlong, E.E., & Singer, R.A. (2014). Beyond “far” transfer and “happy” therapy dogs: Comparative psychology gets the facts right. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 19, 15-19.
Singer, R. A. (2018). Visible Displacement. In Vonk, J., & Shackleford, T.K. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, Switzerland: Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1532-1
Singer, R. A. (2018). Invisible Displacement. In Vonk, J., & Shackleford, T.K. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, Switzerland: Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1547-1
Brando, S., Bowles, A. E., Böye, M., Dudzinski, K. M., van Elk, N., Lucke, K., McBain, J., Singer, R., & Wahlberg, M. (2016). Proceedings of marine mammal welfare workshops hosted in the Netherlands and the USA in 2012. Aquatic Mammals, 42(3), 392-416.
Singer, R. A. (2015). "Academics in Action" to promote engagement in general psychology. In W. Altman, L. Stein, & J. R. Stowell (Eds.), Essays from E-xcellence in Teaching (Vol. 14, pp. 53-56). Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology Web site: http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/eit2014/index.php.
Singer, R. A., & Henderson, E. E. (2015). Object Permanence in Marine Mammals Using the Violation of Expectation Procedure. Behavioural Processes, 112, 108-113.
Singer, R. A., & Zentall, T. R. (2011). Preference for the outcome that follows a relatively aversive event: Contrast or delay reduction? Learning and Motivation, 42, 255-271.
Zentall, T. R., Singer, R. A., & Stagner, J. (2008). Episodic-like memory: Pigeons can report location pecked when unexpectedly asked. Behavioral Processes, 79, 93-98.
Zentall, T. R., & Singer, R. A. (2008). Required Pecking and Not Pecking Alters Judgments of the Passage of Time by Pigeons. Learning and Behavior, 36, 55-61.
Singer, R. A. & Zentall, T. R. (2007). Pigeons learn to answer the question “Where did you just peck?” and can report peck location when unexpectedly asked. Learning & Behavior, 35, 184-189.
Singer, R. A., Berry, L. M., & Zentall, T. R. (2007). Preference for a stimulus that follows an aversive event: Contrast or delay reduction? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 87, 275-285.
Singer, R. A, Abroms, B. D., & Zentall, T. R. (2006). Formation of simple cognitive maps in rats. International Journal of Comparative Cognition, 19, 417-425.
Bloomsmith, M.A., Jones, M.L., Snyder, R.J., Singer, R.A., Gardner, W.A., Liu, S.C., & Maple, T.L. (2003). Positive reinforcement training to elicit voluntary movement of two giant pandas throughout their enclosure. Zoo Biology, 22, 323-334.