Greg Jensen: Research

Two major themes dominate my research: (1) The rigorous study of basic mechanisms using comparative methods, and (2) precise and appropriate analysis of the resulting data.

Regarding the first theme: Because the human mind is the product of evolution, it stands to reason that many of the mind's core mechanisms are well-preserved across species. Faculties like self-awareness and language did not arise in a vacuum, and our best hope for understanding how they evolved is to situate psychological phenomena in a broad and biologically inclusive context. At the same time, the sophistication of the human mind complicates its study. In order to study learning processes that do not depend on the human capacity for abstraction and language, we can learn a great deal from the study of animals whose problem-solving is not confounded by those processes.

Regarding the second theme: If psychology is to be a natural science, it must embrace the full suite of analytic tools that are now at its disposal. Furthermore, it is essential that the application of these tools respects the formal assumptions upon which they rest. In light of the remarkable advances being made in applied statistics, one of psychology's top priorities is its statistical re-education.

Cognitive Models and Problem-Solving

My cognitive work focuses on basic mechanisms underlying serial learning, reward value, categorization, and task representation.

Experimental Studies

• Jensen G, Terrace HS, Ferrera VP. (2022). Positional inference in rhesus macaques. Animal Cognition, 25, 73-92. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01536-x
• Elpers N, Jensen G, Holmes KJ. (2022). Does grammatical gender affect object concepts? Registered replication of Phillips and Boroditsky (2003). Journal of Memory and Language, 127, 104357. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2022.104357
• Ferhat A-T, Jensen G, Terrace HS, Ferrera VP. (2022). Influence of rule- and reward-based strategies on inferences of serial order by monkeys. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 34, 592-604. DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01823
• Jin Y, Jensen G, Gottlieb J, Ferrera VP. (2022) Superstitious learning of abstract order from random reinforcement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 119, e2202789119. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2202789119
• Jensen G, Muñoz F, Meaney A, Terrace HS, Ferrera VP. (2021). Transitive inference after minimal training in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 47, 464-475. DOI: 10.1037/xan0000298
• Jensen G, Kao T, Michaelcheck C, Borge SS, Ferrera VP, Terrace HS. (2021) Category learning in a transitive inference paradigm. Memory & Cognition, 49, 1020-1035. DOI: 10.3758/s13421-020-01136-z
• Kao T, Jensen G, Ferrera VP, Terrace HS. (2020). Absolute and relative knowledge of ordinal position. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 46, 2227–2243. DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000783.
• Muñoz F, Jensen G, Kennedy BC, Y, Alkan Y, Terrace HS, Ferrera VP. (2020). Learned representation of implied serial order in posterior parietal cortex. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 9386. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65838-9
• Jensen G, Alkan Y, Ferrera VP, Terrace HS. (2019). Reward associations do not explain transitive inference performance in monkeys. Science Advances, 5, eaaw2089. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw2089
• Altschul D, Jensen G, Terrace HS. (2017) Perceptual category learning of photographic and painterly stimuli in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and humans PLoS ONE, 12, e0185576. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185576
• Jensen G, Alkan Y, Muñoz F, Ferrera VP, Terrace HS. (2017). Transitive inference in humans (Homo sapiens) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mullata) after massed training of the last two list items. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 131, 231-245. DOI: 10.1037/com0000065
• Tanner N, Jensen G, Ferrera VP, Terrace HS. (2017) Inferential learning of serial order of perceptual categories by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Neuroscience, 37, 6268-6276. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0263-17.2017
• Jensen G, Muñoz F, Alkan Y, Ferrera VP, Terrace HS. (2015) Implicit value updating explains transitive inference performance: The betasort model. PLOS Computational Biology, 11, e1004523. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004523
• Avdagic E, Jensen G, Altschul D, Terrace HS. (2014). Rapid cognitive flexibility of rhesus macaques performing psychophysical task-switching. Animal Cognition, 17, 619-631. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-013-0693-0
• Jensen G, Altschul D, Danly E, Terrace HS. (2013). Transfer of a serial representation between two distinct tasks by Rhesus macaques. PLOS ONE, 8, e70285. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070285
• Jensen G, Altschul D, Terrace HS. (2013). Monkeys would rather see and do: Preference for agentic control in Rhesus macaques. Experimental Brain Research, 3, 429-442. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-013-3402-y

Subject Reviews, Chapters, & Commentary

• Jensen G, Terrace HS, Ferrera VP. (2019) Discovering implied serial order through model-free and model-based learning.
Frontiers in Neuoscience, 13, Article 878. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00878
• Jensen G. (2017). Herbert Terrace. In J Vonk & T Shachelford (Eds) The Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_927-1
• Jensen G. (2017) Serial learning. in Call J, Burghardt GM, Pepperberg IM, Snowdon CT, Zentall Z, APA Handbook of Comparative Psychology, vol. 2 (pp. 385-409). American Psychological Association. DOI: 10.1037/0000012-018
• Jensen G, Altschul D. (2015). Two perils of binary categorization: Why the study of concepts can’t afford true/false testing. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 168. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00168

Behavior Analysis and Decision Making

Understanding the mechanisms underlying mental processes can only be achieved with careful experimental design and rigorous analysis. Behavior analysis draws upon the methodological traditional of the radical behaviorists, while simultaneously recognizing important theoretical advances in cognition and neuroscience.

My work in this area has focused on characterizing how information is processed, and how behaviors are subsequently executed.

Experimental Studies

• PREPRINT Harvey S, Jensen G, Anderson K. (2022). Delay discounting: Numerical estimation of gamification’s impact on motivation and performance. PsyArXiv. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/6xcbe
• Rischall I, Hunter L, Jensen G, Gottlieb J. (2022). Inefficient prioritization of task-relevant attributes during instrumental information demand. Nature Communications, 14, 3174. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38821-x
• Wan H, Kirkman C, Jensen G, Hackenberg TD. (2021). Failure to find altruistic food sharing in rats. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 696025. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696025
• Pouliopoulos AN, Kwon N, Jensen G, Meaney A, Niimi Y, Burgess MT, Ji R, McLuckie AJ, Munoz F, Kamimura HAS, Teich AF, Ferrera VP, Konofagou EE. (2021). Safety evaluation of a clinical focused ultrasound system for neuronavigation guided blood-brain barrier opening in non-human primates. Scientific Reports, 11, Article 15043. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94188-3
• PREPRINT Jensen G. (2018). Choice under conditions of uncertainty. PsyArXiv. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/579p8
• Avlar B, Kahn J, Jensen G, Kandel E, Simpson E, Balsam P. (2015) Improving temporal cognition by enhancing motivation. Behavioral Neuroscience, 129, 576-588. DOI: 10.1037/bne0000083
• Bailey MR, Jensen G, Taylor K, Mezias C, Williamson C, Silver R, Simpson EH, Balsam PD. (2015). A novel strategy for dissecting goal-directed action and arousal components of motivated behavior. Behavioral Neuroscience, 129, 269-280. DOI: 10.1037/bne0000060
• Morè L, Jensen G. (2014). Acquisition of conditioned responding in a multiple schedule depends on the reinforcement's temporal contingency with each stimulus. Learning & Memory, 21(5), 258-262. DOI: 10.1101/lm.034231.113
• Jensen G, Stokes PD, Paterniti A, Balsam PD. (2014). Unexpected downshifts in reward magnitude induce variation in human behavior. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21(2), 436-444. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070285
• Ward RD, Gallistel CR, Jensen G, Richards VL, Fairhurst S, Balsam PD. (2012). Conditional Stimulus Informativeness Governs Conditioned Stimulus—Unconditioned Stimulus Associability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 38(3), 217-232. DOI: 10.1037/a0027621
• Jensen G, Neuringer A. (2009). Barycentric extension of generalized matching. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 92(2), 139-159. DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2009.92-139
• Jensen G, Neuringer A. (2008). Choice as a function of reinforcer "hold": From probability learning to concurrent reinforcement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 34(4), 437-460. DOI: 10.1037/0097-7403.34.4.437
• Rothstein JB, Jensen G, Neuringer A. (2008). Human choice among five alternatives when reinforcers decay. Behavioural Processes, 78(2), 231-239. DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.02.016
• Neuringer A, Jensen G, Piff P. (2007). Stochastic Matching and the Voluntary Nature of Choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 88(1), 1-28. DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2007.65-06

Subject Reviews, Chapters, & Commentary

• PREPRINT Jensen G, Freestone D. (2018). Computational Prometheus: How reinforcement was stolen, and how to steal it back. PsyArXiv. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/4mtns
• Jensen G. (2018). Behavioral Stochasticity. In J Vonk & T Shachelford (Eds) The Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1520-1
• Neuringer A, Jensen G. (2013). Operant Varibility. In GJ Madden (Ed), The APA Handbook of Behavior Analysis (Vol 1, pp 408-431). American Psychological Association. DOI: 10.1037/13937-022
• Jensen G, Miller C, Neuringer A. (2012). Truly random operant responding: Results and reasons. In T Zentall & E Wasserman (Eds) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition (2nd ed, pp 652-673). Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195392661.013.0033
• Neuringer A, Jensen G. (2012). The predictably unpredictable operant. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 7, 55-84. DOI: 10.3819/ccbr.2012.70004
• Neuringer A, Jensen G. (2010). Operant variability and voluntary action. Psychological Review, 117(3), 972-993. DOI: 10.1037/a0019499

Applied Statistics

Quantitative science boils down to two related activities: Measurement and model-building. Both are prerequisites to describing the nature world and predicting outcomes. Expand the scope of what can be measured, and you have given science more lines of attack. Build a better model, and you have given science better predictions against which to compare experimental results.

Experimental Studies

• Jensen G. (2019). Instrumental variable estimation of reinforcer effects. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 111, 358-368. DOI: 10.1002/jeab.498
• PREPRINT Jensen G, Muñoz F, Ferrera VP. (2016). Learning in spike trains: Estimating within-session changes in firing rate using weighted interpolation bioRχiv. DOI: 10.1101/041301
• PREPRINT Jensen G. (2015). Kernel probability estimation for binomial and multinomial data PeerJ PrePrints, 3, e1406. DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.1156v1
• Jensen G. (2014). Compositions and their application to the analysis of choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 102, 1-25. DOI: 10.1002/jeab.89
• PREPRINT Jensen G. (2013). Closed-Form Estimation of Multiple Change-Point Models. PeerJ PrePrints, 1, e90v3. DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.90v3

Subject Reviews, Chapters, & Commentary

• Porges EC, Jensen G, Foster BM, Edden RAE, Puts NAJ. (2021). The trajectory of cortical GABA levels across the lifespan, an individual participant data meta-analysis of edited MRS studies eLife, 10, e62575. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.62575
• Jensen G, Ward RD, Balsam PD. (2013). Information: Theory, Brain, and Behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 100, 408-431. DOI: 10.1002/jeab.49