Miles Bensky

Graduate Student

CONTACT INFO
E-mail: miles.bensky@gmail.com
Phone: 206-419-2361
Mailing address:
The University of Texas at Austin
Department of Psychology
1 University Station A8000
Austin, TX, 78712-0187

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My major research interests include non-human animal personality and cognition, with a particular interest in canine behavior. Specifically, I would like to learn how these two areas of animal behavior may interact, and to what extent ontogeny and phylogeny play a role in shaping an individual’s personality and cognitive abilities. One of my aims is to search for ways to apply this knowledge towards improving animal welfare and training. For example, could enrichment opportunities or behavior modification techniques be optimized based on an individual dog’s measured traits or cognitive level? Could human-canine pairing success be improved by utilizing personality measures? In the case of working dogs, can real-world success be predicted based on early measurements?