Postdoctoral researcher @DukeU | PhD @UCLA | Primate behavior, communication, social bonds & emotion | Profile pic by @kazfantone for NPR
Portland, OR
Joined October 2014
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My new paper, "Bonobos tend to behave optimistically after hearing laughter” is out! We found that bonobos were more likely to expect rewards after hearing same-species laughter, suggesting that the sound puts them in a good mood. nature.com/articles/s41598-0…
ALT A picture of bonobos playing, CC BY-SA 2.0 Eric Kilby
Great apes may use playful teasing to learn about their social relationships. In a new paper, Erica Cartmill & I propose a bond-testing hypothesis for ape teasing. Out today in Phil Trans Biology: royalsocietypublishing.org/r…
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
#Hearing #Laughter increases optimism in bonobos, indicating that positive vocalizations can influence emotional states and decision-making in great apes, with evolutionary links to human laughter. @SciReports doi.org/g9rhrn phys.org/news/2025-06-apes-o…
Some exciting news - I’m joining @HermanPontzer ‘s lab at @DukeU as a postdoc! I’ll be researching energetics in baboons, collaborating with folks at the Amboseli Baboon Project 😊@AmboseliBaboons @ArchieLab
The COMPARE lab at @IndianaUniv is hiring a new full-time lab manager to assist studies with children and dogs, and manage the activities of the lab space on IU Bloomington campus. Please share! hrms.iu.edu/psp/PH1PRD_PUB/E…
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
The loss of a legend- Kanzi, the language-competent bonobo, has died age 44.
Kanzi was exceptional in so many ways and offered us profound insights into the linguistic & cognitive capacities of great apes.
He has taught us so much and will be hugely missed. @ApeInitiative
The JHU Social & Cognitive Origins lab has a new opening for a full-time position - a great opportunity to work with an all-star team of animal cognition researchers!
🚨RT!
The Social & Cognitive Origins group at @JohnsHopkins (social-cognitive-origins.com), directed by Dr. Christopher Krupenye, is recruiting a full-time research assistant or lab manager to begin Summer 2025. The position has a one-year minimum, w/ the possibility of extension. 1/
ALT The Social & Cognitive Origins Group at Johns Hopkins University studies how humans and other animals think.
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
The Kalahari Research Centre (Northern Cape, South Africa) is hosting a FULLY FUNDED course on animal behaviour and communication!
Check out the flyers below and find out more on their website - exc.uni-konstanz.de/cbfc/app…
#kalahariresearchcentre #africanbioacoustics #fieldcourse
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
Toddlers Learn Best After Experiencing Impossible Events
Children as young as two understand differences between improbable and impossible events, a new study reveals.
Researchers found that toddlers learned significantly better after witnessing an impossible event rather than an improbable one, highlighting the unique impact of unexpected experiences.
The study involved two- and three-year-olds interacting with a toy machine rigged to occasionally deliver an impossible result.
Children who received an impossible outcome—like a pink toy from a machine filled only with purple ones—showed better learning retention than those who experienced merely improbable outcomes.
Researchers believe the impossible events prompted the children to seek explanations, sparking a strong drive for learning.
These findings may influence new strategies in early education by creating “mystery” moments that enhance learning.
ALT This shows a child and bubbles.
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
Not to sound cheesy, but DISI was life-changing for me—and a lot of fun. Can’t think of a better way to spend three weeks of your summer, so.. consider this call if this calls to you!
📣📣📣
Applications for DISI 2025 are now open!!
Interested in intelligence, mind, and cognition in all its forms? Early-career scholars from any discipline—and storytellers in any medium—are encouraged to apply!
More info: disi.org/
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
Are humans the only species that communicates when a collaborator is missing information?
@TownrowLuke and I show that our closest relatives, bonobos, can track when a partner is knowledgeable or ignorant, and tailor communication accordingly @PNASNews
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.24…
ALT Bonobo, Nyota, at Ape Initiative, a science and education nonprofit
New @sciam article by my PhD advisor Erica Cartmill does a fantastic job summarizing our lab's research on playful teasing in great apes! I bet you'll be ape-solutley tickled to read it (ok sorry I had to): scientificamerican.com/artic…
#primates #animals #humor #science #bioanthro
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
The Datasaurus Dozen is a collection of thirteen datasets that, despite having nearly identical summary statistics—such as mean, variance, and correlation—exhibit vastly different distributions when visualized. This underscores the critical importance of graphing data to uncover underlying patterns that summary statistics alone may obscure.
#Statistics #DataScience #Research #Science
Exciting new animal cognition lab just dropped 😎- congrats Amalia!!
This Post is from an account that no longer exists. Learn more
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
I have a really exciting PhD opportunity on a highly novel topic: flow state in animals! This is open to students worldwide, drawing on the University of Bristol's strengths in animal cognition, animal welfare and human game design lnkd.in/eJZ4U3jt
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
🚨Do Rodents Smell with Sound?🚨 Ultrasonic vocalisations may cluster oderants & when this is coordinated with sniffing, it may enhance olfactory sensing. So cool! 🐀👃👂sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
ALT Rodent standing on soundwave
My @TED_ED video on the science of laughter just passed 1 MILLION views! 😱 If you haven't seen it yet and want to know more about why humans laugh, check it out here: t.ted.com/l7GtVov (& shout out to @rybak_hanna for the awesome animation!)
Raise your hand if you got overly invested with the absolute DRAMA of #FatBearWeek this year 🙋♀️
we are gearing up for 128 grazer vs. 32 chunk in the fat bear week 2024 finals, and if she loses to chunk at the very end of the competition after everything she's been through I will never forgive y'all
ALT screenshot of the Fat Bear Week 2024 website that says the following text: "Yet even Grazer knows the pain of loss. On an afternoon in July 2024 both of her first-year cubs were swept over the falls. The water carried both siblings toward 32 Chunk, the most dominant bear on the river. Chunk attacked. Grazer rushed to defend her cubs, although not before Chunk injured the cub nearest to him. That cub later died from its injuries. The surviving cub was a 2024 Fat Bear Junior contender."
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
PhD Studentship available
I am looking for a student to study the 'Quality and function of affiliative actions in non-human primates' - if you are interested in primate sociality, communication, and relationships, get in touch!
findaphd.com/phds/project/qu…
Sasha Winkler, PhD retweeted
Happy Fat Bear Tuesday to all who celebrate. The final polls are now OPEN, so go vote! It's a Chunk vs. Grazer showdown. Vote at fatbearweek.org/