The D. O. Hebb Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award honors a psychologist who has made distinguished theoretical and/or empirical contributions to basic research in behavioral neuroscience and/or comparative psychology. J. David Smith, professor emeritus at SUNY Buffalo, was the recipient. Smith was nominated by David Washburn. As written in the nomination letter, Smith “has revolutionized two areas of comparative cognition…His innovative use of psychophysical paradigms to bring animals (human or otherwise) to an empirically verifiable region of uncertainty within decision space and to study how those animals respond to uncertainty, has changed what we know about meta-cognition and the cues that control it…[Also, he is] an expert in the study of concept formation by humans and other animals.” Smith continues to be an active, prolific researcher.
The Brenda A. Milner Award recognizes the author of an outstanding paper in the field of behavioral neuroscience or comparative psychology. This year’s winner was Adriene Beltz for her paper entitled “Oral contraceptives and cognition: A role for ethinyl estradiol. Beltz, A. M., Hampson, E., & Berenbaum, S. A. (2015). Hormones and Behavior, 74, 209-217. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.06.012.
The Clifford T. Morgan Distinguished Service to Div. 6 Award recognizes members of Div. 6 who have made sustained and exceptional contributions to the division in both scholarly work and service. The winner of this year’s award is William (Bill) Mason. Mason was selected for the award due to his numerous service contributions to the field.
The Clever Systems Early Career Investigator Award honors an early career psychologist (within 10 years of the PhD) who has made a substantial contribution to the fields of comparative psychology and/or behavioral neuroscience. The awards committee selected Sergio Iñiguez to be the awardee this year. Iñiguez is an associate professor in the department of psychology at the University of Texas El Paso.
The Frank A. Beach Comparative Psychology Award is given each year to recognize the best paper published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, as selected by the dditor and consulting editors of the journal. This year’s paper was Tan, Amanda W. Y. (2017). From play to proficiency: The ontogeny of stone-tool use in coastal-foraging long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) from a comparative perception-action perspective. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 131 (2), 89-114.
The D. G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award is given each year to recognize the best paper published in Behavioral Neuroscience, as selected by the editor and consulting editors of the journal. This year’s award goes to Seip-Cammack, Katharine M.; Young, James J.; Young, Megan E.; Shapiro, Matthew L. (2017). Partial lesion of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway in rats impairs egocentric learning but not spatial learning or behavioral flexibility. Behavioral Neuroscience. 131 (2):135-142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bne0000189
Congratulations to all winners.