Biography
My research through Principal Investigator (Cambridge University and Anglia Ruskin University, 2021-date), Research Associate (Cambridge University, 2015-date), PhD (Vienna University, 2012-2016), Research Assistant (Auckland University, 2011; Edinburgh Zoo roles, 2008-2010) and MSc (St Andrews University, 2010-2011) posts has focused on examining the evolution of cognition, primarily in birds and humans. My research has resulted in a productive academic output, taking account of 2-years of maternity leave and part-time working: 32 publications, with an h-index of 15 and 781 citations (Google Scholar).
In parallel, I have a strong background of skills, knowledge and practical experience in animal care, welfare, training and conservation, for instance, through my roles at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo as Avian Research Coordinator, Animal Keeper and Animal Trainer, including a conservation trip to Uganda, education trip to Zambia, and Animal Management degree.
For more information: www.drrachaelmiller.com
Research
Comparative Psychology | Conservation Behaviour | Behavioural Ecology | Child Development
I am currently a Principal Investigator (PI) and Research Associate at the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, as well as a Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University. I am broadly interested in the evolution of cognition, using comparative, ecological and developmental approaches. As PI, I am leading two independent projects: 1. Cognition in Animal Conservation (applying cognition research to conservation initiatives in a critically endangered bird species); 2. ManyBirds project, with a core team of early career researchers, establishing a multi-site collaborative project on avian cognition/ behaviour research. As Research Associate at Cambridge University, I have focused on testing cognition in humans (children and adults) and corvids (crow family), with a particular focus on self-control, behavioural flexibility, responses to novelty, social learning and reasoning about cause and effect. Key aspects of my PhD in Cognitive Biology from the University of Vienna involved highlighting the critical role of individual differences, social context and development on cognition in wild and captive corvids.
I advocate Open Science practices, including publishing all data-sets associated with my papers, and (from Nov 2018) I pre-register my studies.
My website: www.drrachaelmiller.com
Publications
SUBMITTED/ PRE-PRINTS
*Miller R & Garcia-Pelegrin E, Danby E (* = senior and joint first author) (Submitted). Neophobia and innovation in critically endangered Bali myna. Royal Society Open Science. Available in pre-print BioRxiv: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.12.468403v1
Ding N, *Miller R, *Clayton NS (* = joint senior authorship) (Submitted). Inhibition and cognitive flexibility are related to prediction of one's own future preference in young British and Chinese children. Cognition. Pre-print PsyArXiv: https://psyarxiv.com/ezv76
ACCEPTED/ IN PRESS
Miller R, Schiestl M, Clayton NS. (In Press) Chapter: Welfare in Corvids. 9th Ed of Universities Federation for Animal Welfare Handbook on Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals. Wiley
PUBLICATIONS
Lambert M, Reber S, Garcia-Pelegrin E, Farrar B, Miller R (2022). ManyBirds: A multi-site collaborative approach to avian cognition and behaviour research. Animal Behavior and Cognition 9, 133-152
Garcia-Pelegrin E, Clark F, Miller R (2022). Increasing animal cognition research in zoos. Zoo Biology doi:10.1002/zoo.21674
Miller R, Lambert M, Frohnweiser A, Brecht K, Bugnyar T, Crampton I, Garcia-Pelegrin E, Gould K, Greggor A, Izawa E, Kelly D, Li Z, Luo Y, Luong L, Massen J, Neider A, Reber S, Schiestl M, Sepehri P, Stevens J, Taylor AH, Wang L, Wolff LM, Zhang Y, Clayton NS (2021). Socio-ecological correlates of neophobia in corvids. Current Biology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.045
Ding N, Frohnwieser A, *Miller R, *Clayton NS (* = joint senior authorship) (2021). Waiting for a better reward: comparison of delay of gratification in young children across two cultures. PLoS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256966
Boeckle M, Schiestl M, Frohnwieser A, Gruber R, Miller R, Suddendorf T, Gray RD, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. (2021) New Caledonian crows' planning behaviour: a reply to de Mahy, Don et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: 202111271
Boeckle M, Schiestl M, Frohnwieser A, Gruber R, Miller R, Suddendorf T, Gray RD, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. (2020) New Caledonian crows flexibly plan for specific future tool use. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287: 20201490
Miller R, Frohnwieser A, Ding N, Troisi C, Schiestl M, Gruber R, Taylor, AH, Jelbert, SA, Boeckle M, Clayton NS (2020) A novel test of flexible planning in relation to executive function and language in young children. Royal Society Open Science 7: 71-85
Miller R and Gruber R, Frohnwieser A, Schiestl M, Jelbert SA, Gray RD, Boeckle M, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. (2020) Decision-making flexibility in New Caledonian crows, young children and adult humans in a multi-dimensional tool-use task. PLoS ONE 15: e0219874
Kövér L & Lengyel S, Takenaka M, Kirchmeir A, Uhl F, Miller R, Schwab C. (2019) Why do zoos attract crows? A comparative study from Europe and Asia. Ecology and Evolution 00: 1-11
Miller R, Frohnwieser A, Schiestl M, McCoy DE, Gray RD, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. (2019) Delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and young children: influence of reward type and visibility. Animal Cognition doi: 10.1007/s10071-019-01317-7
Miller R, Boeckle M, Frohnwieser A, Jelbert SA, Wascher, CAF, Clayton NS. (2019) Self-control in crows, parrots and non-human primates. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science e1504
Gruber R, Schiestl M, Boeckle M, Frohnwieser A, Miller R, Gray RD, Clayton NS, Taylor AH. (2019) New Caledonian crows use mental representations to solve metatool problems. Current Biology 29: 686-692
Jelbert SA, Miller R, Schiestl M, Boeckle M, Cheke LG, Gray RD, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. (2019) New Caledonian crows infer the weight of objects from their movements in a breeze. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286: 20182332
Uhl F, Ringler M, Miller R, Deventer S, Bugnyar T, Schwab C. (2018) Counting crows: population structure and group size variation in an urban population of crows. Behavioural Ecology ary 157
Miller R, Jelbert SA, Loissel E, Taylor AH, Clayton NS (2017) Young children do not require perceptual-motor feedback to solve Aesop’s Fable tasks. Peer J 5:e3483
Davidson G, Miller R, Loissel E, Cheke LG, Clayton NS (2017) The development of support intuitions and object causality in juvenile Eurasian jays. Scientific Reports 7:40062
Miller R, Jelbert SA, Taylor AH, Cheke LG, Gray RD, Loissel E, Clayton NS (2016) Performance in object-choice Aesop’s Fable tasks are influenced by object biases in New Caledonian crows but not in human children. PLoS ONE 11:e0168056
Miller R, Logan CJ, Lister K, Clayton NS (2016). Eurasian jays do not copy the choices of conspecifics, but they do show evidence of stimulus enhancement. Peer J 4:e2746
Deventer SA, Uhl F, Bugnyar T, Miller R, Fitch WT, Schiestl M, Ringler M, Schwab C (2016) Behavioural type affects space use in a wild population of crows. Ethology 122:881-891
Miller R, Schwab C, Bugnyar T (2016) Explorative innovators and flexible use of social information in common ravens and carrion crows. Journal of Comparative Psychology doi:10.1037/com0000039
Miller R, Laskowski KL, Schiestl M, Bugnyar T, Schwab C (2016) Socially driven consistent behavioural differences during development in common ravens and carrion crows. PLoS ONE 11:e0148822
Miller R, Bugnyar T, Pölzl K, Schwab C (2015) Differences in exploration behaviour in common ravens and carrion crows during development and across social context. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 69:1209-20
Taylor AH, Cheke LG, Waismeyer A, Meltzoff A, Miller R, Gopnik A, Clayton NS, Gray RD (2015) No conclusive evidence that corvids can create novel causal interventions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282:20150796
Knaebe B, Taylor AH, Miller R, Gray RD (2015) New Caledonian crows attend to barb presence during Pandanus tool manufacture and use. Behaviour doi:10.1163/1568539X-00003316
Miller R, Schiestl M, Whiten A, Schwab C, Bugnyar T (2014) Tolerance and social facilitation in the foraging behaviour of free-ranging crows. Ethology 120:1248-1255
Taylor AH, Cheke LG, Waismeyer A, Meltzoff A, Miller R, Gopnik A, Clayton NS, Gray RD (2014) Of babies and birds: complex tool behaviours are not sufficient for the evolution of the ability to create a causal intervention. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281:20140837
Taylor AH, Miller R, Gray RD (2013) Clear evidence of habituation counters counterbalancing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:e337
Taylor AH, Miller R, Gray RD (2013) The devil is unlikely to be association or distraction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:e274
Miller R, King CE (2013) Husbandry training, using positive reinforcement techniques, for Marabou stork at Edinburgh Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook 47:171-180
Taylor AH, Miller R, Gray RD (2012) New Caledonian crows reason about hidden causal agents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109:16389-16391
Dufour V, Wascher C, Braun A, Miller R, Bugnyar T (2011) Time is money: Corvids can decide if a future transaction is worth waiting for. Biology Letters 23:201-204
