Generally I am interested in comparative cognition and the evolution of cognitive processes. I study different aspects of cognition (e.g., memory, reasoning, understanding of time) that can inform us about the evolution of cognition in both vertebrates (children, great apes, corvids) and invertebrates (bees).
I have recently started a bee lab and I welcome applications related to bee cognition for PhD students.
Please, check our project on Tool Use in Bumblebees https://www.tooluseinbumblebees.com/.
Article
Kamber E, Mahy C & Martin-Ordas G (2025) Children’s Future-Oriented Cognition and Family Characteristics: How Similar are Children’s and Parents’ Future-Oriented Cognition?. The Journal of Genetic Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2025.2546947
Article
The constructive nature of memories in insects: bumblebees as a case study
Martin-Ordas G (2024) The constructive nature of memories in insects: bumblebees as a case study. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0405
Article
Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research
Martin-Ordas G & Easton A (2024) Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0395
Article
Inferential reasoning abilities in wild-caught bumblebees
Martin-Ordas G (2024) Inferential reasoning abilities in wild-caught bumblebees. Biology Letters, 20 (6). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0561
Article
Relational reasoning in wild bumblebees revisited: the role of distance
Martin-Ordas G (2023) Relational reasoning in wild bumblebees revisited: the role of distance. Scientific Reports, 13, Art. No.: 22311. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49840-5
Article
Moving Beyond "Spoon" Tasks: The Emergence of Self-Directed Episodic Future Thinking
Atance CM, Ayson G & Martin-Ordas G (2023) Moving Beyond "Spoon" Tasks: The Emergence of Self-Directed Episodic Future Thinking. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1646
Article
Frames of reference in small-scale spatial tasks in wild bumblebees
Martin-Ordas G (2022) Frames of reference in small-scale spatial tasks in wild bumblebees. Scientific Reports, 12, Art. No.: 21683. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26282-z
Book Chapter
The Evolution of Episodic Cognition
Martin-Ordas G (2022) The Evolution of Episodic Cognition. In: Shwartz B & Beran M (eds.) Primate Cognitive Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 291-313. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955836
Article
Spontaneous relational and object similarity in wild bumblebees
Martin-Ordas G (2022) Spontaneous relational and object similarity in wild bumblebees. Biology Letters, 18 (8), Art. No.: 20220253. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0253
Book Chapter
Martin-Ordas G (2021) Memory and Recall Overview. In: Kaufman A, Call J & Kaufman J (eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 117-139. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108564113.009
Article
What will you want tomorrow? Children-But not adults- mis-predict another person's future desires
Martin-Ordas G & Atance CM (2021) What will you want tomorrow? Children-But not adults- mis-predict another person's future desires. PLOS ONE, 16 (11), Art. No.: e0259159. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259159
Article
What Human Planning Can Tell Us About Animal Planning: An Empirical Case
Martin-Ordas G (2020) What Human Planning Can Tell Us About Animal Planning: An Empirical Case. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Art. No.: 635. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00635
Article
Martin-Ordas G (2020) It is about time: Conceptual and experimental evaluation of the temporal cognitive mechanisms in mental time travel. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 11 (6), Art. No.: e1530. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1530
Article
Forgetting in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): What is the role of interference?
Martin-Ordas G, Atencia R & Fernandez-Navarro S (2020) Forgetting in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): What is the role of interference?. PLOS ONE, 15 (5), Art. No.: e0234004. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234004
Article
Adults' performance in an episodic-like memory task: The role of experience
Martin-Ordas G & Atance CM (2019) Adults' performance in an episodic-like memory task: The role of experience. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Art. No.: 2688. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02688
Article
"First, I will get the marbles." Children's foresight abilities in a modified spoon task
Martin-Ordas G (2018) "First, I will get the marbles." Children's foresight abilities in a modified spoon task. Cognitive Development, 45, pp. 152-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2017.07.001
Book Chapter
Confounding use of tools in physical tasks.
Martin-Ordas G (2017) Confounding use of tools in physical tasks.. In: Shackelford T & Weekes-Shackelford V (eds.) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3178-1#chapter-info
Article
Did the Popsicle Melt? Preschoolers’ Performance in an Episodic-like Memory Task
Martin-Ordas G, Atance CM & Caza J (2017) Did the Popsicle Melt? Preschoolers’ Performance in an Episodic-like Memory Task. Memory, 25 (9), pp. 1260-1271. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2017.1285940
Book Chapter
Martin-Ordas G (2017) Sequential tool use.. In: Shackelford T & Weekes-Shackelford V (eds.) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3176-1
Article
'Will I Want These Stickers Tomorrow?' Preschoolers' Ability to Predict Current and Future Needs
Martin-Ordas G (2017) 'Will I Want These Stickers Tomorrow?' Preschoolers' Ability to Predict Current and Future Needs. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35 (4), pp. 568-581. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12195
Book Chapter
With the future in mind: towards a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of future thinking
Martin-Ordas G (2016) With the future in mind: towards a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of future thinking. In: Michaelian K, Klein S & Szpunar K (eds.) Seeing the Future: Theoretical Perspectives on Future-Oriented Mental Time Travel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 306-327. https://academic.oup.com/book/1478/chapter/140893364?login=true
Book Chapter
The role of experience in tool use.
Martin-Ordas G (2016) The role of experience in tool use.. In: Shackelford T & Weekes-Shackelford V (eds.) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Commentary
Commentary: Merging of Long-Term Memories in an Insect
Martin-Ordas G & Smulders T (2015) Commentary: Merging of Long-Term Memories in an Insect. Commentary on: Hunt, K.L., and Chittka, L. (2015). Merging of long-term memories in an insect, Curr. Biol. 25, 741–745. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.023. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Art. No.: 826. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00826
Article
Corvids create novel causal interventions after all
Jacobs IF, von Bayern A, Martin-Ordas G, Rat-Fischer L & Osvath M (2015) Corvids create novel causal interventions after all. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282 (1806), Art. No.: 20142504. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2504
Article
Young children's causal explanations are biased by post-action associative information
Atance CM, Metcalf JL, Martin-Ordas G & Walker CL (2014) Young children's causal explanations are biased by post-action associative information. Developmental Psychology, 50 (12), pp. 2675-2685. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038186
Article
Remembering in tool-use tasks in children and great apes: the role of the information at encoding
Martin-Ordas G, Atance CM & Call J (2014) Remembering in tool-use tasks in children and great apes: the role of the information at encoding. Memory, 22 (1), pp. 129-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2013.806553
Article
Osvath M & Martin-Ordas G (2014) The future of future oriented cognition in non-humans: theory and the empirical case of the great apes. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, 369 (1655), Art. No.: 20130486. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0486
Article
How do episodic memory and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?
Martin-Ordas G, Atance CM & Caza J (2014) How do episodic memory and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Art. No.: 732. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00732
Book Chapter
Projecting the Self into the Future.
Martin-Ordas G & Atance C (2013) Projecting the Self into the Future.. In: Bauer P & Fivush R (eds.) The Wiley Handbook on the Development of Children's Memory, I/Volume II. Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 645-664. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118597705
Article
Memory for Distant Past Events in Chimpanzees and Orangutans
Martin-Ordas G, Berntsen D & Call J (2013) Memory for Distant Past Events in Chimpanzees and Orangutans. Current Biology, 23 (15), pp. 1438-1441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.017
Article
Sequential Tool Use in Great Apes
Martin-Ordas G, Schumacher L & Call J (2012) Sequential Tool Use in Great Apes. PLoS ONE, 7 (12), Art. No.: e52074. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052074
Article
The role of episodic and semantic memory in episodic foresight
Martin-Ordas G, Atance CM & Louw A (2012) The role of episodic and semantic memory in episodic foresight. Learning and Motivation, 43 (4), pp. 209-219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2012.05.011
Article
Barriers and traps: great apes’ performance in two functionally equivalent tasks
Martin-Ordas G, Jaek F & Call J (2012) Barriers and traps: great apes’ performance in two functionally equivalent tasks. Animal Cognition, 15 (5), pp. 1007-1013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-012-0504-z
Book Chapter
Luces y sombras en el pensamiento de Darwin en relacion a la evolucion cognitiva de las especies.
Martin-Ordas G & Call J (2011) Luces y sombras en el pensamiento de Darwin en relacion a la evolucion cognitiva de las especies.. In: Gutiérrez G & Papini M (eds.) Bogota, Colombia: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. https://www.humanas.unal.edu.co/2017/investigacion/centro-editorial/libros/darwin-y-las-ciencias-del-comportamiento
Article
Memory processing in great apes: the effect of time and sleep
Martin-Ordas G & Call J (2011) Memory processing in great apes: the effect of time and sleep. Biology Letters, 7 (6), pp. 829-832. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0437
Article
A Framework and Open Questions on Imagination in Adults and Children
Davies J, Atance C & Martin-Ordas G (2011) A Framework and Open Questions on Imagination in Adults and Children. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 31 (1), pp. 143-157. https://doi.org/10.2190/ic.31.1-2.l
Article
Keeping track of time: evidence for episodic-like memory in great apes
Martin-Ordas G, Haun D, Colmenares F & Call J (2010) Keeping track of time: evidence for episodic-like memory in great apes. Animal Cognition, 13 (2), pp. 331-340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-009-0282-4
Article
Assessing generalization within and between trap tasks in the great apes
Martin-Ordas G & Call J (2009) Assessing generalization within and between trap tasks in the great apes. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 22 (1), pp. 43-60. https://doi.org/10.46867/ijcp.2009.22.01.02
Article
Martin-Ordas G & Call J (2008) Tubes, tables and traps: great apes solve two functionally equivalent trap tasks but show no evidence of transfer across tasks. Animal Cognition.
