Dr Alex Mielke
Lecturer in Psychology
Open Science Lead
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Primates, Cooperation, Communication, Sequences, Grooming, Play
Interests
Research Interests:Primate Sociality and Cooperation
During my PhD, I studied sooty mangabeys and Western chimpanzees in the Tai National Park, Cote d'Ivoire, trying to device ways to compare their social systems. This has led to two broad interests: one, using naturally occurring social behaviour (grooming, grooming interventions, food sharing, spatial association) as decision making situations to quantify the complexity of cognitive processes in wild animals; the other, quantifying the social structures of animals (hierarchies, friendships, association networks) using long-term observational data.
Reproducibility and Replicability in Observational Studies
One result of the work on sociality is the realisation that there are way too many different ways to calculate basic aspects of animal social life from data, and that our data pipelines and current publishing formats do not ensure that two researchers, with the same data, derive the same insights about the animals they study. As most of comparative ethology is indirect (we read published papers and compare our results to theirs, even if they used a different method), we do not know whether reported differences between species are due to biological differences or because researchers used different methods to calculate dominance hierarchies, social networks etc. As a first step, we have started using simulation studies to quantify the impact measurement and sampling error have on different standard methods in animal sociality research, how the choice of different dominance or sociality measures affects results, and how different linear model specifications influence researcher interpretations.
Animal Play
Classically, studies of play have focused on partner choice - who plays with whom. In my work, I focus on the sequence of actions and reactions between players to test whether there are recognisable games and how predictable play is from the viewpoint of the individuals involved. As it is inherently more chaotic, and often faster, than 'serious' behaviours, play can be a measure for the most complex sequences an animal might encounter in their development. It is therefore a good indicator whether complex hierarchical sequence patterns, as we see them in human language, are evident in action sequences of animals - is there a 'grammar' of play, and how does it compare between species.
Non-verbal Communication - Gestures, Calls, and Facial Signals
I've been fortunate enough to work in groups that use different channels to understand non-verbal communication in humans and primates. I am currently involved in work on the syntax of chimpanzee gestural communication. I previously helped develop network-based approaches to quantify facial communication in humans and other species. In mangabeys, we showed the alarm calls follow predictions made by game theoretical models. Throughout, I have used of machine learning models for the study of animal communication systems (here and here for vocalisations; upcoming for gestural communication). I am working to prepare standard tools to analyse sequences of animal behaviour and communication to improve replicability and reproducibility of comparative research in this area.
Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Brain and Behaviour
2024
Samuni L, Mielke A, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2024). Social play fosters cooperation in wild adult chimpanzees. Current Biology, Elsevier BV
01-11-2024
01-11-2024
Mielke A, Badihi G, Graham KE, Grund C, Hashimoto C, Piel AK, Safryghin A, Slocombe KE, Stewart F, Wilke C, Zuberbühler K and Hobaiter C (2024). Many morphs: Parsing gesture signals from the noise. Behavior Research Methods, Springer Nature vol. 56 (7), 6520-6537.
04-03-2024
04-03-2024
2023
Rincon AV, Waller BM, Duboscq J, Mielke A, Pérez C, Clark PR and Micheletta J (2023). Higher social tolerance is associated with more complex facial behavior in macaques. eLife, eLife Sciences Publications vol. 12
03-10-2023
03-10-2023
Schofield DP, Albery GF, Firth JA, Mielke A, Hayashi M, Matsuzawa T, Biro D and Carvalho S (2023). Automated face recognition using deep neural networks produces robust primate social networks and sociality measures. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Wiley vol. 14 (8), 1937-1951.
24-07-2023
24-07-2023
Mielke A (2023). Impact of dominance rank specification in dyadic interaction models. PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS) vol. 18 (7)
20-07-2023
20-07-2023
2022
Mielke A and Carvalho S (2022). Chimpanzee play sequences are structured hierarchically as games. PeerJ, PeerJ vol. 10
16-11-2022
16-11-2022
Massen JJM and Mielke A (2022). Third-Party Interactions. Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior 6970-6977.
01-01-2022
01-01-2022
2021
Mielke A, Waller BM, Pérez C, Rincon AV, Duboscq J and Micheletta J (2021). NetFACS: Using network science to understand facial communication systems. Behavior Research Methods, Springer Nature vol. 54 (4), 1912-1927.
09-11-2021
09-11-2021
Mielke A, Bruchmann C, Schülke O and Ostner J (2021). Grooming interventions in female rhesus macaques as social niche construction. Animal Behaviour, Elsevier vol. 173, 105-114.
01-03-2021
01-03-2021
Mielke A, Preis A, Samuni L, Gogarten JF, Lester JD, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2021). Consistency of Social Interactions in Sooty Mangabeys and Chimpanzees. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Frontiers vol. 8, 603677-603677.
22-01-2021
22-01-2021
2020
Tkaczynski PJ, Mielke A, Samuni L, Preis A, Wittig RM and Crockford C (2020). Long-term repeatability in social behaviour suggests stable social phenotypes in wild chimpanzees. Royal Society Open Science, The Royal Society vol. 7 (8)
01-08-2020
01-08-2020
Julle-Danière E, Whitehouse J, Mielke A, Vrij A, Gustafsson E, Micheletta J and Waller BM (2020). Are there non-verbal signals of guilt? PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS) vol. 15 (4)
24-04-2020
24-04-2020
Mielke A, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2020). Predictability and variability of association patterns in sooty mangabeys. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Springer Nature vol. 74 (4)
23-03-2020
23-03-2020
Clément B, Bene J-CK, Bi ZBG, Mielke A and Kone I (2020). Within-group spatial position and activity budget of wild sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, African Journals Online (AJOL) vol. 13 (7), 2991-3008.
11-02-2020
11-02-2020
2019
Samuni L, Mielke A, Preis A, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2019). Intergroup Competition Enhances Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) In-group Cohesion. International Journal of Primatology, Springer Nature vol. 41 (2), 342-362.
18-12-2019
18-12-2019
Mielke A, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2019). Snake alarm calls as a public good in sooty mangabeys. Animal Behaviour, Elsevier vol. 158, 201-209.
01-12-2019
01-12-2019
Mielke A, Crockford C and Wittig R (2019). Rank changes in female chimpanzees in Taï National Park. The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest 290-300.
25-11-2019
25-11-2019
Gogarten JF, Düx A, Mubemba B, Pléh K, Hoffmann C, Mielke A, Müller‐Tiburtius J, Sachse A, Wittig RM, Calvignac‐Spencer S and Leendertz FH (2019). Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates. Molecular Ecology, Wiley vol. 28 (18), 4242-4258.
18-07-2019
18-07-2019
2018
Samuni L, Preis A, Mielke A, Deschner T, Wittig RM and Crockford C (2018). Social bonds facilitate cooperative resource sharing in wild chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, The Royal Society vol. 285 (1888)
10-10-2018
10-10-2018
Preis A, Samuni L, Mielke A, Deschner T, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2018). Urinary oxytocin levels in relation to post-conflict affiliations in wild male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Hormones and Behavior, Elsevier vol. 105, 28-40.
26-07-2018
26-07-2018
Mielke A, Preis A, Samuni L, Gogarten JF, Wittig RM and Crockford C (2018). Flexible decision-making in grooming partner choice in sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees. Royal Society Open Science, The Royal Society vol. 5 (7)
01-07-2018
01-07-2018
Gogarten JF, Davies TJ, Benjamino J, Gogarten JP, Graf J, Mielke A, Mundry R, Nelson MC, Wittig RM, Leendertz FH and Calvignac-Spencer S (2018). Factors influencing bacterial microbiome composition in a wild non-human primate community in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology, Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 12 (10), 2559-2574.
28-06-2018
28-06-2018
Mielke A, Preis A, Samuni L, Gogarten JF, Wittig RM and Crockford C (2018). Flexible decision-making in grooming partner choice in sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE vol. 5 (7)
01-01-2018
01-01-2018
2017
Mielke A, Samuni L, Preis A, Gogarten JF, Crockford C and Wittig RM (2017). Bystanders intervene to impede grooming in Western chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys. Royal Society Open Science, The Royal Society vol. 4 (11)
01-11-2017
01-11-2017
2016
Lameira AR, Hardus ME, Mielke A, Wich SA and Shumaker RW (2016). Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan. Scientific Reports, Springer Nature vol. 6 (1)
27-07-2016
27-07-2016
2013
Mielke A and Zuberbühler K (2013). A method for automated individual, species and call type recognition in free-ranging animals. Animal Behaviour, Elsevier vol. 86 (2), 475-482.
01-08-2013
01-08-2013
Grants
Grants of specific relevance to the Centre for Brain and Behaviour
Evolution of human language efficiency (Alexandra Safryghin)
Alexander Mielke
£126,273 ESRC Economic and Social Research Council (01-10-2024 - 30-09-2025)
Alexander Mielke
£126,273 ESRC Economic and Social Research Council (01-10-2024 - 30-09-2025)
Early Career Fellowship: Dr Alexander Mielke-GRANT TRANSFER
Alexander Mielke
£39,083 Leverhulme Trust (01-07-2023 - 31-10-2024)
Alexander Mielke
£39,083 Leverhulme Trust (01-07-2023 - 31-10-2024)