Dr. Leger joined the faculty in 1980. He received his Ph.D. in biological psychology from the University of California, Davis. He teaches biopsychology, learning and motivation and physiological psychology. Dr. Leger's research interests include, from most specific to most general: bird song, animal communication, animal behavior, evolutionary psychology, and biological bases of behavior. He is currently investigating bird song and animal anti-predator behavior. Dr. Leger is one of the core faculty in the Nebraska Behavioral Biology Group(NBBG). For further information on his role in that organization click the link above.
Representative Publications
- Benz, J.J., Leger, D.W., & French, J.A. (1992). Relation between food preference and food-elicited vocalizations in golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 106, 142-149.
- Leger, D.W. (1993). Contextual sources of information and responses to animal communication signals. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 295-304.
- Leger, D.W., Didrichsons, I.A. (1994). An assessment of data pooling and some alternatives. Animal Behavior, 48, 823-832.
- Leger, D. W., et al. (1996). Adult perception of emotion intensity in human infant cries: Effects of infant age and cry acoustics. Child Development, 67, 3238-3249.
- Arenz, C. L., & Leger, D. W. (1997). The antipredator vigilance of adult and juvenile thirteen-lined ground squirrels: Visual obstruction and simulated hawk attacks. Ethology, 103, 945-953.
- Arenz, C. L., & Leger, D. W. (1997). Artificial obstruction, anti-predator vigilance, and predator detection in the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus Tridecemlineatus). Behavior, 134, 1101-1114.
- Leger, D. W., Brooks, K. e., & O'Brien, J. E. (2000). Versatility from a single song: The case of the Nightingale Wren. Auk, 117, 1038-1042.
- Mountjoy, D. J., & Leger, D. W. (2001). Vireo song repertoires and migratory distance: three sexual selection hypotheses fail to explain the correlation. Behavioral Ecology, 12, 98-102.
- Leger ,D. W. & Mountjoy, D. J. (2003). Geographic variation in song of the Bright-rumped Attila (Tyrannidae: Attila spadiceus): Implications for species status. Auk, 120, 69-74.
- Leger, D.W. (1992). Biological Foundations of Behavior: An Integrative Approach. New York: Harper Collins.