Ana Lucía Arbaiza-Bayona

Research interests
I work within the framework of developmental plasticity, aiming broadly to understand how early environments shape behavioral trajectories throughout ontogeny. My research focuses in particular on prenatal and postnatal maternal effects on behavior. To explore these dynamics in an evolutionary context, I have conducted research across multiple species, including children, quail, spider monkeys, and macaques. I use both lab and field methods, integrating behavioral observations with hormonal, ecological, and demographic data, to investigate how developmental environments influence later-life outcomes.

Education

• April 2021 – present: PhD student
  Behavioural Ecology Department, University of Göttingen.
  Ph.D. program Behaviour and Cognition (BeCog).
  DAAD Research Grant - Doctoral Programmes in Germany, 2020/21
  PhD topic: “Prenatal and postnatal maternal influence on personality development in wild Assamese macaques”. Advisor: Prof. Dr. Julia Ostner.
• 2015-2018: Master in Psychology (research emphasis on Learning and Evolution of Behavior)
  Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
  Research grant from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Colciencias (761-2016).
  Awarded the highest distinction of laureate thesis: “Characterization of mother-infant relationship in wild Geoffroy’s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)”. Advisors: Prof. Dr. Germán Gutiérrez and Prof. Dr. Colleen Schaffner.
  
• 2007-2013: Undergraduate degree in Psychology
  Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
  Undergraduate project: “Efectos de la Experiencia Temprana en el Comportamiento Sexual de la Codorniz Japonesa Macho” (Effects of Early Experience on the Sexual Behavior of Male Japanese Quail). Advisor: Prof. Dr. Germán Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez
  

Publications

• Arbaiza-Bayona, A. L., Schülke, O., Mundry, R., Ostner, J. (2025). Age-trajectory of mother-infant relationships in wild Assamese macaques. BioRxiv doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.10.653242
• Arbaiza-Bayona, A. L., Schaffner, C. M., Gutiérrez, G., Aureli, F. (2022). Mother–infant relationships and infant independence in wild Geoffroy’s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi).
  Journal of Comparative Psychology, 136(4), 221–235. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000329
• Arbaiza-Bayona, A. L., Arteaga-Avendaño, M. P., Puentes-Escamilla, M., Gutiérrez, G. (2022). Effects of early social experience on sexual behavior in Japanese quail (Coturnix Japonica). Learning and Behavior, 50(3), 283–297. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13420-022-00527-3
  

Conference contributions

• Arbaiza-Bayona, A. L. & Gutiérrez, G. (2019). Contribuciones de la investigación con primates no humanos en el estudio del apego en humanos [Contributions of non human primate research in the study of attachment in humans]. In Task Force of Experimental and Comparative Psychology of the Interamerican Society of Psychology, Comparaciones teóricas y metodológicas entre el comportamiento humano y no humano [Symposium]. 37 Interamerican Congress of Psychology.
• Gutiérrez, G., Arbaiza-Bayona, A. L., Schaffner, C., & Aureli, F. (2018). Mother-Infant Relationship in Wild Geoffroy’s Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) [Poster presentation]. XIX Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Comparative Psychology, Los Angeles.
• Arbaiza-Bayona, A. L., Puentes E., M. A. & Gutiérrez, G. (2014). Efecto de la presentación temprana de estímulos en el comportamiento sexual de la codorniz japonesa macho [Effects of early exposure to stimuli in the sexual behavior of male Japanese quail]. Oral presentation at the XVII Biennal Meeting of the International Society for Comparative Psychology. Bogota