Dr Robert Spencer


NameDr Robert Spencer
Job titleLecturer in Psychology
Research institute
Primary appointmentPsychology
Email addressr.spencer@mdx.ac.uk
ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0860-4717
Contact categoryAcademic staff

Biography

Biography

Rob Spencer is a behavioural scientist with a background in behavioural ecology and evolutionary psychology. His research involves the development of game-theoretical models to understand behaviour between interdependent agents and the application of such models to real populations (Behavioural Game Theory). He is interested in decision-making in social dilemmas within human populations.

His research involves the use of economic games to understand decision-making around resources and the psychological traits, life history traits and environmental factors that mediate whether people engage in self-interested or cooperative behaviours.

Education and qualifications

Grants

Prizes and Awards

Research outputs

Averting depletion in a two-player common pool resource game: Being seen, the expectation of future encounters, and biophilia play a role in cooperation

Bonfrisco, M., Russell, Y., Broom, M. and Spencer, R. 2024. Averting depletion in a two-player common pool resource game: Being seen, the expectation of future encounters, and biophilia play a role in cooperation. Dynamic Games and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13235-024-00557-8

A pilot study for satellite-tracking Gadwalls Mareca strepera wintering in the Lea Valley, UK

Spencer, R., Roper, P., Hill, T. and Scott, S. 2022. A pilot study for satellite-tracking Gadwalls Mareca strepera wintering in the Lea Valley, UK. Ringing and Migration. 37 (1-2), pp. 13-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/03078698.2023.2242050

Tourism, migration, and the exodus to virtual worlds: place attachment in massively multiplayer online gamers

Coulson, M., Oskis, A., Spencer, R. and Gould, R. 2020. Tourism, migration, and the exodus to virtual worlds: place attachment in massively multiplayer online gamers. Psychology of Popular Media. 9 (4), pp. 525-532. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000244

Clutch size in Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) on Lundy

Dickins, T., Neller, K. and Spencer, R. 2018. Clutch size in Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) on Lundy. Journal of the Lundy Field Society. 6, pp. 35-54.

A game-theoretical model of kleptoparasitic behavior in an urban gull (Laridae) population

Spencer, R. and Broom, M. 2018. A game-theoretical model of kleptoparasitic behavior in an urban gull (Laridae) population. Behavioral Ecology. 29 (1), pp. 60-78. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx125

An empirical and theoretical investigation of kleptoparasitic foraging behaviour in mixed-species aggregations of gulls (Laridae)

Spencer, R. 2017. An empirical and theoretical investigation of kleptoparasitic foraging behaviour in mixed-species aggregations of gulls (Laridae). PhD thesis Middlesex University Psychology

Kleptoparasitism in gulls Laridae at an urban and a coastal foraging environment: an assessment of ecological predictors

Spencer, R., Russell, Y., Dickins, B. and Dickins, T. 2017. Kleptoparasitism in gulls Laridae at an urban and a coastal foraging environment: an assessment of ecological predictors. Bird Study. 64 (1), pp. 12-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2016.1249821

Differences in aggression and nest behavior between herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and lesser black-backer gulls (Larus fuscus) on Lundy

Spencer, R. and Dickins, T. 2014. Differences in aggression and nest behavior between herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and lesser black-backer gulls (Larus fuscus) on Lundy. Journal of the Lundy Field Society. 4, pp. 85-104.
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