Michael Beran
Professor, Psychology Associate Chair, Language Research Center Neuroscience, Psychology- Education
B.A. - Psychology - Olgethorpe University - 1995
M.A. - Psychology - Georgia State University - 1997
Ph.D. - Psychology - Georgia State University - 2002
- Specializations
Comparative cognition; Numerical cognition; Self-control and behavioral inhibition; Prospective memory; Metacognition; Primate cognition; Perception; Decision-making
- Biography
My research is focused on learning about and understanding the cognitive abilities, and particularly the cognitive control, exhibited by humans (children and adults) and other species, primarily the great apes and monkey species. This work is conducted in the Comparative Intelligence and Cognition laboratory and at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University, as well as through collaborations with other institutions such as the National Zoo in Washington, DC and Zoo Atlanta. I also conduct some research studies with preschool children in the local Atlanta area.
Currently, my students and I are working on six major programs of research: Numerical Cognition; Metacognition; Strategic Economic Interactions; Prospective Memory and Planning; Self-Control and Delay of Gratification; and Perceptual and Cognitive Illusions. These research projects are supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and Georgia State University. Please visit the Comparative Intelligence and Cognition (COMIC) laboratory page, where you can see much more about our research, our publications, and who we are.
- Publications
Books
Schwartz, B. L., & Beran, M. J. (Eds.) (2022). Primate cognitive studies. Cambridge University Press.
Beran, M. J. (2018). Self-control in animals and people. London: Academic Press.
Recent Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Flessert, M., Taubert, J., & Beran, M. J. (in press). Assessing the perception of face pareidolia in children (Homo sapiens), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella). Journal of Comparative Psychology.
McKeon, E. J., Beran, M. J., & Parrish, A. E. (in press). Children (Homo sapiens), but not rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), perceive the one-is-more illusion. Journal of Comparative Psychology.
Englund, M. D., & Beran, M. J. (2022). No evidence of the choice overload effect in a computerized paradigm with rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella). Behavioural Processes, 194, 104545.
Beran, M. J., & Parrish, A. E. (2021). Nonhuman primate token use shows possibilities but also limitations for establishing a form of currency. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 376, 20190675.
Gurgand, L., & Beran, M. J. (2021). Assessing consistency in children’s and monkeys’ performance across computerized and manual detour problem tasks. Behavioral Processes, 182, 104291.
James, B. T., Parrish, A. E, Guild, A. S., Creamer, C., Kelly, V., Perdue, B. M., Kelly, A. J., & Beran, M. J. (2021). Go if you know: Preschool children’s movements reflect
their metacognitive monitoring. Cognitive Development, 57, 101001.Parrish, A. E., & Beran, M. J. (2021). Children and monkeys overestimate the size of high-contrast stimuli. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83, 2123-2135.
James, B. T., Webster, M. F., Menzel, C. R., Whitham, W., & Beran, M. J. (2020). Post-event misinformation effects in a language-trained chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Animal Cognition, 23, 861-869.
Krause, M., & Beran, M. J. (2020). Words matter: Reflections on language projects with chimpanzees and their implications. American Journal of Primatology, 82, e23187.
Parrish, A. E., French, K. A., Guild, A. S., Creamer, C. L., Rossettie, M S., & Beran, M. J. (2020). The density bias: Capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) prefer densely arranged items in a food-choice task. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 134, 232-240.
Smith, T. R., Parrish, A. E., Creamer, C., Rossettie, M., & Beran, M. J. (2020). Capuchin monkeys (sometimes) go when they know: Confidence movements in Sapajus apella. Cognition, 199, 104237.
Agrillo, C., Beran, M. J., & Parrish, A. E. (2019). Exploring the Jastrow illusion in humans (Homo sapiens), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella). Perception, 48, 367-385.
Beran, M. J. (2019). Animal metacognition: A decade of progress, problems, and the development of new prospects. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 6, 223-229.
Beran, M. J., French, K., Smith, T. R., & Parrish, A. E. (2019). Limited evidence of number-space mapping in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 133, 281-293.
Beran, M. J., Kelly, A. J., Perdue, B. M., Whitham, W., Love, M., Kelly, V., & Parrish, A. E. (2019). Divide and conquer: Preschool children can assign the hardest tasks to a symbolic helper. Experimental Psychology, 66, 296-309.
Beran, M. J. (2018). Replication and pre-registration in comparative psychology. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 31.
Beran, M. J., & Hopkins, W. D. (2018). Self-control in chimpanzees relates to general intelligence. Current Biology, 28, 574-579.
Parrish, A. E., Afrifa, E. A., & Beran, M. J. (2018). Exploring decoy effects on computerized task preferences in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Animal Behavior & Cognition, 5, 235-253.
Parrish, A. E., James, B. T., Rossettie, M. S., Smith, T. R., Otalora-Garcia, A., & Beran, M. J. (2018). Investigating the depletion effect: Self-control does not waiver in capuchin monkeys. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 5, 118-138.
Parrish, A. E., Perdue, B. M., Kelly, A. J., & Beran, M. J. (2018). Working memory in children assessed with serial chaining and Simon tasks. Behavioral Processes, 157, 528-531.
Beran, M. J. (2017). To err is (not only) human: Fallibility as a window into primate cognition. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 12, 57-81.