Dr Manon Schweinfurth
Lecturer
Biography
Manon Schweinfurth grew up in Germany and studied Biology with Psychology as minor in Mainz (Germany). During her studies, she participated in multiple projects on ants, baboons, geese and ravens to study why and how animals get along with other. For her PhD, she moved to Bern (Switzerland) to study the evolution of social behaviours in rats. Thereafter, she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, studying chimpanzees in Chimfunshi (Zambia). Today, she is a lecturer and group leader in the School of Psychology & Neuroscience.
Research areas
Together with members of her Cooperation Lab, Manon Schweinfurth investigates the evolutionary and psychological origins of cooperation. In particular, she is interested in why and how individuals decide to help others instead of being selfish. To investigate these questions, she mostly studies chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) besides humans (Homo sapiens). Most of her studies are based on predictions derived from game theoretical models that she tests experimentally in both lab and field settings. Please visit her research group website for more information and ways to join her Cooperation Lab.
PhD supervision
- Alice Veiros
- Sophie Harrower
- Sadie Tenpas
Selected publications
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Open access
Revisiting the possibility of reciprocal help in non-human primates
Schweinfurth, M. K. & Call, J., Sept 2019, In: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 104, p. 73-86 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
Spontaneous social tool use in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Schweinfurth, M. K., Detroy, S. E., Van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Call, J. & Haun, D. B. M., 12 Nov 2018, In: Journal of Comparative Psychology. 132, 4, p. 455-463 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Relatedness decreases and reciprocity increases cooperation in Norway rats
Schweinfurth, M. K. & Taborsky, M., 14 Mar 2018, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285, 1874, 20180035.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Reciprocal trading of different commodities in Norway rats
Schweinfurth, M. K. & Taborsky, M., 19 Feb 2018, In: Current Biology. 28, 4, p. 594-599 e3.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Experimental evidence for reciprocity in allogrooming among wild-type Norway rats
Schweinfurth, M. K., Stieger, B. & Taborsky, M., 21 Jun 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 8 p., 4010 .Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review