My research focuses on animal cognition in a broadly evolutionary context. Our general approach is to work in the laboratory studying problems suggested by natural history and ecology under controlled circumstances. The broad questions are how cognition evolved, how animals use cognitive abilities to solve problems in nature and how cognitive abilities can affect the evolutionary process. These interests are pursued in three areas: the detection of cryptic prey, spatial cognition in seed-caching corvids and the evolution of intelligence in social corvids.


Selected recent publications:

Bond, A.B., Kamil, A.C. & Balda, R.P. (2007) Serial reversal learning and the evolution of behavioral flexibility in three species of North American corvids (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Nucifraga columbiana, Aphelocoma californica). Journal of Comparative Psychology 121: 372-379. PDF

Bond, A.B. & Kamil, A.C. (2006) Spatial heterogeneity, predator cognition, and the evolution of color polymorphism in virtual prey. PNAS 103: 3214-3219. PDF

Gibson, B. M., & Kamil, A. C. (2005). The fine-grained spatial abilities of
three seed-caching corvids. Learning & Behavior. 33:59-66.

Paz-y-Miño, G, Bond, A.B., Kamil, A.C., & Balda, R.P. (2004). Pinyon jays use transitive inference to predict social dominance. Nature. 430:778-782. PDF

Goodyear, A. J., & Kamil, A. C. (2004). Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) and the effects of goal- landmark distance on overshadowing. Journal of Comparative Psychology 118:258-264. Request a PDF of this article.

Kamil, A. C. (2004). Sociality and the Evolution of Intelligence. Trends in Cognitive Science 8:195-197. Request a PDF of this article.

Bond, A. B., Kamil, A. C., & Balda, R. P. (2003). Social complexity and transitive inference in corvids. Animal Behaviour 65: 479-487. PDF

Bond, A.B. & Kamil, A.C. (2002). Visual predators select for crypticity and polymorphism in virtual prey. Nature 415: 609-614. PDF

Kamil, A. C., & Cheng, K. (2001). Way-finding and landmarks: the multiple-bearings hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Biology 204: 103-113. PDF

Dukas, R., & Kamil, A. C. (2001). Limited attention: The constraint underlying search image. Behavioral Ecology 12: 192-199.

Kamil, A. C. & Jones, J. E. (2000). Geometric rule learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 26: 439-453. Abstract (HTML)

Bond, A. B., & Kamil, A. C. (1999). Searching image in blue jays: Facilitation and interference in sequential priming. Animal Learning and Behavior 27: 461-471. PDF

Kamil, A. C., Balda, R. P., & Good, S. (1999). Patterns of movement and orientation during caching and recovery by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana). Animal Behaviour 57: 1327-1335. Abstract (HTML)

Bond, A. B., & Kamil, A. C. (1998). Apostatic selection by blue jays produces balanced polymorphism in virtual prey. Nature 395: 594-596. PDF

Kamil, A. C., & Jones, J. E. (1997). Clark's nutcrackers learn geometric relationships among landmarks. Nature 390: 276-279. PDF

Kamil, A.C., Lindstrom, F. & Peters, J. (1985). The detection of cryptic prey by blue jays. I. The effects of travel time. Animal Behaviour 33: 1068-1079. PDF (>1MB)

Balda, R. P., Kamil, A. C., & Bednekoff, P. A. (1997). Predicting cognitive capacities from natural histories: Examples from four Corvid species. Current Ornithology 13: 33-66.

Gould-Beierle, K. L., & Kamil, A. C. (1996). The use of local and global cues by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana). Animal Behaviour 52: 519-528.

Basil, J. A., Kamil, A. C., Balda, R. P., & Fite, K. V. (1996). Differences in hippocampal volume among food storing corvids. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 47: 156-164.

Olson, D. J., Kamil, A. C., Balda, R. P. & Nims, P. J. (1995). Performance of four seed-caching Corvid species in operant tests of nonspatial and spatial memory. Journal of Comparative Psychology 109: 173-181.

Balda, R. P., & Kamil, A. C. (1992). Long-term spatial memory in Clark's nutcrackers. Animal Behaviour 44: 761-769.