Time Schedule:
Michael D Beecher
PSYCH 560
Seattle Campus
Group discussions of problems and continuing strategies for ongoing and future research projects. Prerequisite: graduate standing in Psychology, others by permission.
Class description
CORE CONCEPTS IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR (= 502 effective Autumn 2004) Guthrie 315, Tues Thurs 11:00-12:20. Focus of the course is on problem areas central to the study of animal behavior. Topics will be selected from among the following areas (and others suggested by participants in the class): 1. Sensory ecology and evolution of behavior (e.g., Endler et al); 2. Handicap theory - its impacts on the study of communication and sexual selection (Zahavi, Grafen, empirical studies). 3. Phylogenetic approaches. 4. Model systems of evolution (e.g., Kamil & Bond - evolution of crypticity re search image). 5. Fluctuating asymmetry - is it really used as a quality indicator? 6. Extra-pair mating in monogamy - what does the female get out of it? 7. The role of communication in the animal's every day existence (e.g., Seeley on use of bee dance language in honeybee foraging strategies). 8. Evolution of sociality based on kin selection and reciprocity (e.g., Wilkinson on vampire bats, Emlen on bee-eaters). 9. Evolution of sociality without (much) kin selection or reciprocity (e.g., Clutton-Brock et al on meerkats). 10. Model systems of sexual selection (e.g., Wilkinson on stalk-eyed flies). 11. Cognitive ethology - deja vu all over again, or a truly new approach? 12. Evolutionary psychology - deja vu all over again, or a truly new approach? 13. Genes and the development of behavior (e.g., bird song and/or human language). 14. Fighting and assessment, evolutionarily stable strategies and game theory. 15. Evolutionary arms races, predators & prey, and parasites & hosts.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Tuesdays will be lecture days (ideally peppered with discussion) in which I give provide the historical and theoretical backround for the problem area; we will read one or two seminal papers on the topic (sometimes golden oldies, sometimes hot new papers). Thursdays will stick with the problem area but focus more narrowly on a particular research and/or theoretical approach, again with a particular one or two papers we'll all read; Thursdays will be led by one or two students in the class. The major end requirement of the course will be a paper or grant proposal centering on one of the research areas discussed during the course.
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
The major end requirement of the course will be a paper or grant proposal centering on one of the research areas discussed during the course.
