My primary research interests revolve around the study of animal learning, cognition and consciousness, and the development of new theoretical models that encompass these areas. Recently, I proposed a new bio-logical theory of learning (Guez, 2009) and new definitions for cognition and consciousness (Guez, 2010). I am currently pursuing these ideas experimentally (with bees, wallabies, birds and rodents) and theoretically in order to devise an integrated theory of cognition. This would help our understanding of how animals and humans construct and use knowledge about the world, which in turn could further areas in artificial intelligence, animal behaviour and welfare, and help us to gain a better understanding of the biology that underlies cognitive deficits in mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
I am also pursuing the following experimental areas:
• The study of transitive inference in animals (indirect learning)
• Observation learning, and whether it is sensitive to the learning phenomena 'blocking'
• Metarule acquisition, or how previous learning influences new learning about an unrelated set of cues
• The formation of hypothesis in non-human animals (see Guez, 2010).
In addition, I have a keen interest in ecotoxicology and specifically how pesticides affect normal cognitive processes.
Experience
2011–present
Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of Newcastle
2010–2011
Visiting Fellow, The Australian National University
2008–2009
Lecturer, Faculty of Applied Science, University of Canberra
2005–2006
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Binghamton
2002–2005
Post doctoral fellow, Research School of Biological Science, The Australian National University
2001–2002
Lavoisier Fellow, Research School of Biological Science, The Australian National University
Education
2002
University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), PhD in Neurobiology of Behaviour and Ecotoxicology
1998
University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), Masters in Invertebrate Physiology
Publications
2011
Is reasoning in rats really unreasonable? Revisiting recent associative accounts, Frontiers in Psychology 2:277. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2011.00277
2010
From Cognition to Consciousness: a discussion about learning, reality representation & decision m.., Biological Theory, 5 (2), 136-141.
2010
Enhanced cholinergic transmission promotes recall in honeybees, Journal of Insect Physiology, 56 (9), 1341-1348.
2009
A Bio-Logical Theory of Animal Learning, Biological Theory, 4 (2), 148-158.
2008
Blocking and Pseudoblocking: The Reply of Ratus norvegicus to Apis mellifera, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61 (8), 1186-1198.