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Academic Goals
Departmental Learning Goals for Psych 300: Animal Behavior
Course Overview:The objective of the course is to understand the evolution, adaptive significance, and mechanisms of animal (including human) behavior. This course will emphasize an evolutionary approach to the study of the behavior of animals and will introduce the student to important concepts and empirical findings of modern ethology. We will review both proximate (mechanistic) and ultimate (evolutionary) mechanisms that shape the expression of animal behavior. Topics will include behavioral adaptations for survival, migration, communication, mating, and sociality .
Specific Learning Goals:By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand the evolution, adaptive significance, and mechanisms of animal behavior. Recognize that humans are animals. Our main goal will be to achieve a basic understanding of how the behavior of animals has evolved to solve problems posed by their physical and social environments.
- Understand what an evolutionary approach to the study of the behavior of animals entails, and be able to discuss the important concepts and empirical findings of modern ethology. Employ modern theories and specific examples of animal behavior in order to explore specific topics like the diversity of survival and reproductive strategies used by animals.
- Be able to explain both proximate (mechanistic) and ultimate (evolutionary) mechanisms that shape the expression of animal behaviors, like foraging, mating and reproduction, and parental and social behavior. Explain how psychologists study behavior at several levels of analysis (e.g., biological, intrapersonal, environmental).
- Use examples from different groups of animals, like birds, mammals, fish, insects, to explore the ways in which behavior has been shaped by evolutionary forces, especially evolution by natural selection.
- Understand aspects of human behavior that are shared across or may differ according to cultural, ethnic, gender, geographic, or other boundaries.
- Critically evaluate scientific findings. Draw on and evaluate research evidence. Understand the role of hypothesis testing in theory building and evaluation. Understand the tentative nature of knowledge; tolerate ambiguity and use skeptical inquiry.
