Damien Neadle

• BSc (Hons) Psychology with Clinical and Health Psychology from Bangor University, UK
• MSc Psychology from the University of Birmingham, UK

My research looks at great ape behaviour. I focus mainly on bonobos as a primary study species, however I am also interested in behaviours of other animals. My work builds upon research conducted by my supervisor, Claudio Tennie, on the ‘Zone of Latent Solutions’ hypothesis. I am particularly interested in developing a comprehensive Zone of Latent Solutions for captive bonobos, this will hopefully go some way towards answering the question of why bonobos do not use tools in the wild.

PhD title

Spontaneous Tool Use in Bonobos and it’s Relevance for the Question of Tool Use Cultures
Supervisors Dr Claudio Tennie, Dr Jackie Chappell and Dr Sarah Beck

I have been employed as a research assistant in Julie Christian’s lab, at the University of Birmingham, since the onset of my Masters degree. This lab focuses mainly on social research; work here has allowed me to develop a more rounded academic skill set and to gain experience in more varied statistical techniques.

Research Interests: 

• Animal behaviour
• Human and animal culture
• Psychology, particularly comparative 
• Primate Cognition