Dr. Diana Reiss

Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Marine Mammal Science

Hunter College, City University of New York

1990s–presentNew York Aquarium, Hunter College

Specialization

Dolphin cognition, self-awareness, and symbolic communication

Key Findings

• Proved dolphins can recognize themselves in mirrors (mirror self-recognition)
• Showed dolphins are more precocious than human infants in developing self-recognition
• Pioneered research on dolphin symbolic communication systems
• Demonstrated dolphins use mirrors as tools to examine parts of themselves