Andrew Delamater has dedicated his career to exploring how minds – whether human or nonhuman – learn from experience and how brains and artificial neural networks encode different forms of knowledge based on those experiences. As a professor of experimental psychology at Brooklyn College and psychology and neuroscience at the CUNY Graduate Center, Delamater is well-known for his research on associative learning, reward processing neurobiology, and computational processes underlying behavior across species. By combining traditional behaviorist methods with modern neurobiological tools and computational modeling approaches, his work sheds light on how animals represent, update, and use contextual information about the world.
Recently, Delamater co-authored an undergraduate textbook with Michael Domjan, entitled “The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning.” He also wrapped up his time as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, where he played a crucial role in guiding rigorous empirical research with a strong theoretical basis for publication. Delamater shared insights into his scientific journey, views on the evolution of animal learning research, and lessons learned during his editorial leadership.
In 1994, Delamater joined Brooklyn College drawn by the opportunity to build a research program alongside motivated students eager to understand the world. He was impressed by the Psychology Department’s senior faculty members, who shared his academic values and had successful careers from whom he could learn.
His research has evolved to explore neurobiological mechanisms of basic learning processes using tools to measure neural activity patterns in the brain when anticipating rewards. Delamater is particularly interested in understanding how brains encode context-dependent forms of knowledge, using neural network models to simulate learning and anticipate outcomes.
By comparing learning and behavior across species, Delamater has gained valuable insights into human cognition by studying nonhuman animals. He finds simple associative processes can explain complex cognitive phenomena and is intrigued by how brains represent concepts like number and time without language.
During his tenure as editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, Delamater observed a rise in the use of computational modeling to elucidate complex brain functions influencing behavior. He noted the potential of deep learning systems in understanding cognitive processes and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration among psychologists, neuroscientists, and computer scientists.
For students interested in research careers, Delamater finds three fundamental questions dominate the field: the conditions for learning, the content learned, and how learning influences behavior. He advises students to pursue questions that excite them and explore available tools to study them, emphasizing the importance of understanding the scientific process for a rewarding research career.
