Dr. Camila Cavalli

Biography

Camila Cavalli is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. She specializes in courses related to biological psychology, human-animal interactions, and animal behavior. Dr. Cavalli's research interests primarily focus on animal behavior, animal welfare, human-animal interactions, and learning theory. Her work includes the study of dog behavior, especially social behaviors in relation to humans. She has researched topics such as behavioral persistence, frustration, and the effects of extinction on operant behavior. A significant portion of her research explores the role of therapy dogs, examining their sociocognitive abilities and the impacts of incorporating dogs into educational sessions with children. She is also a co-director of the ManyDogs project, an international consortium aimed at fostering global collaboration in canine science. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Cavalli has consulted for the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, leveraging her knowledge in learning theory to study dog training methods and conduct research on trainers' beliefs.

Research Interests