SFB 1528 - Cognition of Interaction

In the press - You or me: who gets the higher reward?

Drama or comedy? Couples who want to spend Sunday evenings together in front of the TV but like different movie genres face this question again every weekend. Do they agree on a movie and watch it together? Or does each one watch "their" favorite movie alone? And when they watch TV together, do they take turns picking?
A team of SFB researchers studied how monkeys and humans coordinate and resolve such inherent conflicts of interest. In humans, this problem is already well studied in the context of game theory. But in contrast to previous approaches, the coordination game has now been extended to include a visibility component: In the game setting developed by Sebastian Möller, Igor Kagan and colleagues from the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and the Cognitive Ethology Laboratory (both at the German Primate Center), players were able to observe their counterparts while making decisions. The research showed that both humans and rhesus monkeys follow the actions of their counterpart and include them in their decision. However, they use different strategies in doing so. Humans coordinate in a dynamic process and achieve a "fair" balance over time: "today" you get to choose, next week it's my turn. In contrast, rhesus monkeys coordinate statically, which often means that one of the two players loses out over time. Two rhesus monkeys learned dynamic coordination skills after playing with human partner, but unlike humans, used these skills to compete.
The publication appeared online in eLife, the press release can be found here.

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SFB 1528 supports Women's Careers and Networks Symposium

A symposium with talks, plenary discussions, and career talks where female researchers can explore different career options and establish important contacts to promote their career path: After the success of the last web symposia, this year’s Women’s Careers and Networks Symposium will take place on the 11 and 12 of May 2023 at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences (Faßberg).
Organized by PhD students and postdocs of the University as well as the Max Planck Institutes the symposium aims to attract young scientists with inspiring lectures and discussions. The meeting’s goal is to bring together female PhD students and postdocs to meet successful women of varied professional backgrounds to exchange experiences and to discuss diverse career options. The symposium will start the 11 of May with a workshop day. The 12 of May the symposium will be opened by Prof. Dr. Viola Priesemann, group leader at MPI for Dynamics and Self-Organization. Besides looking for their potential in different career paths, female scientists might like to get insight into which advancements will help them to achieve a leadership position. All the talks will be followed by interactive discussions with the participants. For more information on the
program and the speakers, please visit the WoCaNet Website

In addition, during the symposium Career talks will provide information and insights in career opportunities in academia and industry. The interactive concept of the symposium includes an exclusive Networking Dinner as an exceptional networking platform where the speakers meet a limited number of participants. Candidates interested in attending the dinner are asked to register. Registration is possible at the WoCaNet Website until the end of April 2023.

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