This badge signifies completion of the course “What Can We Learn from Training Cockroaches?” presented by Christopher Varnon Ph.D.

This presentation discusses the research of Dr Chris Varnon in comparative psychology, from honey bees to horses, with a special focus on his new work with cockroaches. Comparative psychology studies similarities and differences in the behavior of organisms, including humans. By applying a comparative perspective to both animal training and behavioral research, we may gain a greater overall understanding of behavior. Investigations with insects may be ideal to build a better comparative perspective due to their differences from birds and mammals that are often studied. Among insect models, cockroaches offer several benefits. Most notably, they can be easily maintained in controlled conditions year-round. The generalist nature of cockroaches may also facilitate the development of robust behavioral procedures.He discussed his work with cockroaches and other species, as well as methodological considerations when working with an insect species that, while very capable, is vastly different from organisms traditionally used by animal trainers and behavioral scientists.

This course takes approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete.