Nicola Clayton Explained

Nicky Clayton
Birth Date:22 November 1962
Citizenship:United Kingdom
Fields:Comparative cognition
Workplaces:University of Cambridge
Rambert Dance Company
Alma Mater:University of Oxford
University of St Andrews
Thesis Year:1987

Nicola Susan Clayton PhD, FRS, FSB, FAPS, C (born 22 November 1962[1]) is a British psychologist. She is Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Cambridge, Scientist in Residence at Rambert Dance Company,[2] co-founder of 'The Captured Thought',[3] [4] a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, where she is Director of Studies in Psychology,[5] and a Fellow of the Royal Society since 2010.[6] Clayton was made Honorary Director of Studies and advisor to the 'China UK Development Centre'(CUDC) in 2018. She has been awarded professorships by Nanjing University, Institute of Technology, China (2018),[7] Beijing University of Language and Culture, China (2019),[8] [9] and Hangzhou Diangi University, China (2019).[8] [9] Clayton was made Director of the Cambridge Centre for the Integration of Science, Technology and Culture (CCISTC)[10] in 2020.

Early life and education

Clayton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in zoology from the University of Oxford in 1984, before gaining a PhD from the University of St Andrews in 1987.

Career

University of Cambridge

Clayton has made major contributions in the study of animal cognition as well as cognitive development in human children, with significant impact in the neurobiology of memory and overall cognitive development.[5] Her expertise in the study of comparative cognition integrates a knowledge of both biology and psychology in providing new methods of thinking about the evolution and development of intelligence in non-verbal animals and pre-verbal children. Clayton studies cognition not only in humans but also in members of the crow family (including jackdaws, rooks and jays). This work has challenged many assumptions that only humans can reminisce about the past and plan for the future, and that only humans can understand other times as well as other minds.[11] Her work has also led to a re-evaluation of the cognitive capacities of animals, specifically birds, and resulted in a theory that intelligence evolved independently in at least two groups, the apes and the crows,[12] and most recently cephalopods. This has also had scientific impact in changing the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill.[13] Nicky presented an edition of Between the Ears [14] entitled 'Year of the Covids' on BBC Radio 3 on 3rd April 2023.

Rambert Dance Company

Since 2009, Clayton has worked with the Rambert Dance Company as science collaborator, then scientific adviser, and now scientist-in-residence.[15] As a dancer, specializing in tango and salsa, she draws evidence from both the arts and science in her collaborations. In 2009, Clayton experienced her first collaboration by becoming involved in a dance piece called The Comedy of Change, which was inspired by Charles Darwin's ideas of natural and sexual selection. She met the choreographer and Artistic Director of Rambert Dance Company, Mark Baldwin, and gave input about science that could inform the piece. Other choreographic works inspired by science Clayton has collaborated with Baldwin on include Seven For a Secret, Never To Be Told, What Wild Ecstasy, The Strange Charm of Mother Nature, The Creation, Perpetual Movement and Bold.

The piece Seven For a Secret, Never To Be Told was based on the psychology of children, an area of Clayton's research. Clayton singled out themes related to the behavioural development of children, such as the importance of play, which helped to inspire the choreography. This piece was another collaboration between Clayton and Baldwin; the title inspired by a line from the nursery rhyme One for Sorrow, which was based on a superstition associating the number of magpies one sees to prediction of one's future.[16]

The Captured Thought

Another of Clayton's collaborations is with the artist and author Clive Wilkins, who has been Artist in Resident in the psychology department at the University of Cambridge since 2012, a position created especially for Wilkins. Their collaboration arose out of a mutual interest in mental time travel and resulted in Clayton and Wilkins co-founding "The Captured Thought~ an arts/science collaboration." Their work and lectures explore the subjective experience of thinking, by drawing evidence from both science and the arts to examine perception and the nature of mental time travel, as well as the mechanisms we use to think about the future and reminisce about the past. The goal of this project is to illuminate ideas concerning memories and question the power of analysis.[17] Important aspects of The Captured Thought's work have been highlighted in articles in 'The Guardian' newspaper in 2019 [18] [19] and in 'Die Zeit' magazine in 2020.[20] The Captured Thought were invited speakers at The University of Vienna's CogSciHub[21] inauguration 2019 and India's National Brain Research Centre 16th Foundation Day. Clayton and Wilkins continue to present their work in lectures to universities and conferences across the globe~ including UK, Europe, USA, Asia, China and Australasia.Their work together featured in the New Scientist Special Christmas and New Year issue 2022.[22] [23]

Published works

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U245931 CLAYTON, Prof. Nicola Susan
  2. Web site: Professor Nicola S. Clayton FRS FSB FAPS C Psychol. Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge. 13 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20120330124844/http://www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/pages/staffweb/clayton/. 30 March 2012. dead.
  3. Web site: Professor Nicola S. Clayton. Professor Nicola S. Clayton. FRS. 11 March 2012. www.psychol.cam.ac.uk.
  4. Web site: The Captured Thought. Nicola. Clayton.
  5. http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/Fellows-and-Staff-Directory/nsc22/ Clare College Cambridge website
  6. Web site: Professor Nicola S. Clayton FRS FSB FAPS C Psychol. 7 April 2015. University of Cambridge. University of Cambridge.
  7. Web site: Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins have received Professorships from Nanjing University Institute of Technology, China.. 3 January 2019. www.psychol.cam.ac.uk.
  8. Web site: Professor Clive Wilkins. Mr Clive. Wilkins. 10 December 2014. www.psychol.cam.ac.uk.
  9. Web site: Nicky and Clive have been appointed Honorary and Visiting Professors in multiple Universities in China.. Daniele. Campello. 12 November 2019. www.psychol.cam.ac.uk.
  10. Web site: The Cambridge Centre for the Integration of Science, Technology and Culture (CCISTC). Daniele. Campello. 12 May 2020. www.psychol.cam.ac.uk.
  11. Web site: Professor Nicky Clayton, FRS. 8 April 2015. Cambridge Neuroscience. University of Cambridge.
  12. Web site: Professor Nicola Clayton. 8 April 2015. Battle of Ideas 2014.
  13. Schnell, A. K. & Clayton, N. S. (2021). Spineless legislation. New Scientist, 31 July, p. 25
  14. Web site: BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears, Year of the Corvids .
  15. Web site: Third-culture club. 15 March 2012. 8 April 2015. Times Higher Education. Times Higher Education. Reisz. Matthew.
  16. Dances with magpies. Gross. Michael. 22 November 2011. Current Biology. 21. 22. R905–R907. 10.1016/j.cub.2011.11.008. free.
  17. Web site: The Captured Thought is off to Florida University. 8 April 2015. The Captured Thought.
  18. The Guardian. Armistead, C.(2019)The magicians trying to change the world- one card trick at a time. September 9, 2019, G2, 6-7.
  19. Web site: Clive Wilkins and Nicky Clayton on The Guardian - "The magicians trying to change the world". Daniele. Campello. 10 September 2019. www.psychol.cam.ac.uk.
  20. ‘Das eine Tier führt, das andere folgt, es ist eine Art Tango’. Aus der serie: Stephan Kleins Wissenschaftsgespräche. Zeitmagazin nr. 18/2020 -22 April 2020
  21. Web site: Forschungsverbund Vienna Cognitive Science Hub. cogsci.univie.ac.at.
  22. Web site: What doing magic tricks for birds is revealing about animal minds.
  23. Web site: A Christmas Special on the New Scientist features research work on Magic by Prof Wilkins and Clayton and Garcia-Pelegrin. 23 December 2021.
  24. Clayton N.S. & Wilkins C.A.P. (2019) Current Biology 29(10), R349-R350
  25. Clayton N.S. & Wilkins C.A.P. (2019)Science 364, 6445.
  26. Wilkins C.A.P & Clayton N.S. Reflections on the Spoon Test. Neuropsychologia (2019)
  27. Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, Alexandra K. Schnell, Clive Wilkins and Nicola S. Clayton. An unexpected audience. Science.18 Sep 2020:Vol. 369, Issue 6510, pp. 1424-1426 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc6805
  28. Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, Alexandra K. Schnell, Clive Wilkins and Nicola S. Clayton. Exploring the perceptual inabilities of Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) using magic effects. PNAS June 15, 2021 118 (24) e2026106118. Edited by Michael E. Goldberg, Columbia University, New York, NY, and approved April 26, 2021
  29. Web site: Nicola Clayton. Royal Society. 6 May 2016.
  30. Web site: Nicola S. Clayton, PhD, FRS, FSB, FAPS, C Psychol. 6 May 2012. 8 April 2015.
  31. Web site: Tinbergen Lecturer.
  32. 2022 https://www.asab.org/asab-medal.

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