Michael Beran, PhD

Beran, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Comparative Psychology, aims to promote strong experimental and theoretical articles that consider all aspects of psychology from a comparative perspective.

Tell us a bit about your background: What is your area of research? What is your most recent journal-editing experience?

I am a cognitive psychologist. I have focused most of my research on the comparison of human and nonhuman species in different areas of cognition, such as self-control, metacognition, perceptual judgments (and biases), numerical and quantitative cognition, and decision-making processes as they occur across species. Most of this research has been conducted with chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, and capuchin monkeys, often in comparison with human adults and children. I also have worked with bonobos and orangutans, and I have collaborated with excellent colleagues to do some research with gorillas, elephants, bears, robins, and a few other species. I most recently served a 6-year term as coeditor of Animal Behavior and Cognition (with Jennifer Vonk).

Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract?

One of my major priorities for the journal is to continue to publish and promote strong experimental and theoretical articles that consider all aspects of psychology from a comparative perspective. This includes research with well-studied as well as understudied species and research that takes a lifespan perspective or an individual-differences perspective. I also hope that the emerging “big data” consortia groups that can test many individuals or many species (such as ManyPrimates and ManyDogs) will see the Journal of Comparative Psychology (JCP) as an ideal outlet for their research efforts. JCP has been and will continue to be a journal that publishes work from around the world, supporting international researchers. I will strive to ensure that the journal is a home for individuals who come from underrepresented groups within the scientific community and that the journal supports the efforts of early career scientists.

Why is this journal important for the field? What is its relevance to society/public health? What are the hot issues in your area right now?

Comparative psychology has always played an essential role in understanding human psychology. Whether through the development of animal models of human disease and disorder or by providing a comparative perspective that complements the developmental (lifespan), cross-cultural, and evolutionary perspectives that inform psychologists about the full range of human psychological experiences, research with other species provides a more complete picture of human psychology. But this is not the only reason to engage in comparative psychological studies. The results of research with other species are relevant to how humans might manage and coexist with those species at a level that is good for humans and good for those species. Comparative psychology is essential in a world that must rapidly adjust to climate change and human expansion into areas where other species already exist. As part of this, understanding at different levels the mechanisms that affect the behavior of different species provides substantial benefits to humans and potentially to those species. And, finally, sharing what researchers learn about animal behavior with the public better connects humans to the other species they share the planet with. JCP will continue to be a scientific outlet for making such knowledge accessible.

What challenges, if any, lie ahead for the field?

Comparative psychology continues to find itself needing to be “more comparative.” This is true with regards to the number of species that are studied but also in terms of ensuring that research with nonhuman animals takes the perspective of comparing the behavior and cognition of a given species (or group of species) with the behavior and cognition of human and other nonhuman animals that has been documented in the broader literature. In addition, comparative psychologists need to continue to connect with the public to ensure that animal research is recognized and valued for its contributions to better understanding of human learning, cognition, and behavior more generally. A more complete understanding of any aspect of human mental life comes from taking a developmental, cross-cultural, and comparative perspective, along with recognizing that individual differences within and across species are important to quantify and study.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Have you introduced or are you planning to introduce any changes?

One thing that I hope to see increase for JCP is preregistered submissions. As is true in other areas of psychology, research with animals is time intensive and labor intensive. Giving authors the opportunity to submit their planned research designs and analyses would give them confidence that reviewers (and scholars in the field more generally) appreciate and approve excellent ideas. Having reviewers focus more on whether a good idea, a strong design, and an appropriate analytic plan are present in a submitted preregistration complements other aspects of a more transparent and open approach to science. This mechanism is particularly suited to assuring earlier career researchers that they can get excellent studies published even when their resulting data challenge the current literature and perhaps well-established theories that may need to be reconsidered. Of course, JCP will continue to accept traditional manuscript formats in which studies are completed, written up, and submitted for review. The preregistration model ensures that some of the causes of potential replication crises in psychology can be mitigated, and it allows into the literature important results that are challenging to publish in the traditional publishing model.