Time Schedule:
Michael D Beecher
PSYCH 448
Seattle Campus
Selected research topics of contemporary interest. Quarterly listings of specific offerings are available at departmental advisory office.
Class description
The new field of evolutionary psychology explores whether - and if so, how - variation in human behavior can be explained as a result of biological evolution. This field is growing rapidly, and has attracted widespread interest from people in many fields, including psychology, sociology, anthropolgy, biology and law. The course will cover core issues that are addressed by evolutionary psychology, including cooperation, communication, aggression, mating, reproduction and parental and family interactions.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
About half of the classes will be lecture/discussion format (hopefully mostly discussion). The other half will be "seminar" format in which the student selects a topic that interests him or her, selects a reading for that topic (which will be posted on the class website) and leads a discussion of the topic in class.
Recommended preparation
For background, a prior course in animal behavior (e.g., 200, 300 or 409) is strongly recommended.
Class assignments and grading
A midterm, final and a paper. Midterm and final will consist of questions taken from a list handed out a week before the exam. The paper will be due at the end of the quarter and will be based on the topic that the student presented in class. Exams will include material from the student-led seminars.
Equal weight will be given to (1) midterm, (2) final, (3) paper and (4)class participation (including the student-led seminar).
