Evolutionary Psychobiology

Course manual 2018/2019

Course content

The study of animal behaviour, provides us with knowledge on the cognitive skills of a large variety of animal species and populations and their relation to social and ecological conditions, making it a crucial part of studies in psychology and biology. Each animal has special requirements to survive and reproduce, and the same problem is often solved in different ways in different species. Observations of such species-specific behaviours (e.g. tool use, food caching behaviour and imprinting) led to new insights in the anatomy and physiology of brain structures and their evolution. Studying our own behaviour and that of other animals can thus provide a window into our minds and insight into what makes us human.

When studying animal behaviour, questions are asked not only about “how” behaviour is controlled, but also about what behaviour is for, how it evolved in the natural environment (“why” questions). The second half of the course will focus on how to answer these questions. You will learn how to design a behavioural study and how to conduct behavioural measurements accurately and reliably. The course will include a nine days practical where you collect behavioural data by observing an animal of your choice, such as a primate, dog, cat, corvid or parrot species in a natural, semi-natural or captive environment. The aim of these observations is to study the extent of cognitive capacities, such as episodic-like memory, timing, planning, insight, orientation, recognition, communication, social learning and so on. The final aim of the practical work is to have you develop and present a promising design for an experimental or observational study. The practical work is alternated with lectures and journal clubs that will help you develop such a design. These will address topics as recording methods, observer bias, how to deal with confounding variables (through design and use of statistics), advantages of experiments versus observational designs, wild versus captive studies and how to measure validity and independency of collected data. Dependent on your enthusiasm and performance such designs can be followed up with a Bachelor or Masters research project.

Study materials

Literature

• Measuring Behaviour. An Introductory Guide”, 3rd edition (2007), Martin, P. & Bateson, P. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN: 9780521535632. Ca 35,-
• Cognition, Evolution and behaviour”, 2nd edition (2010), Shettleworth, S.J., Oxford University Press. ISBN-:78-0195319842)

Other

• additional articles on Canvas

Objectives

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

• explain why comparing our own behaviour to that of other animal species can provide a window into our mind.
• explain why studying animal behaviour helps us to understand the evolution of cognitive capacities and the anatomy and physiology of brain structures.
• describe the important transitions in primate brain evolution and theories on what makes us human.
• describe theories on selection pressures that drove primate brain evolution.
• describe the differences between primate and non-primate brains.
• explain how primate brains compare to other animals.
• describe the latest findings on comparative genomics and gene regulation in the primate lineage.
• describe the differences between and name examples of first and second order processes in animal cognition and evaluate the challenge of inferring their use from behavioural observations.
• describe a set of current issues investigated in the fields of social, ecological and physical cognition research.
• name the four type of questions that ethologists in the past (e.g. Tinbergen) and present asked to understand behaviour of humans or other animals.
• explain why studying animal behaviour can help us improve animal welfare and conservation.
• explain the cons and pros of observational, quasi-experimental and experimental studies.
• explain the cons and pros of behavioural studies in captivity and the wild.
• explain the cons and pros of different recording methods (e.g. focal sampling vs scan sampling) and recording rules (e.g. continuous vs time sampling).
• substantiate her/his position in a debate on how and where one can best study animal behaviour.
• explain how to control for confounding variables through statistical design and the advantages of Generalized Linear Mixed Modelling for behavioural studies.
• explain how to measure validity and independence of collected data.

• conduct behavioural observations by identifying individuals and their different type of behaviours, making an ethogram, choosing and defining categories and types of measures (e.g. events or states).
• conduct behavioural measurements using a variety of recording methods and rules.
• conduct data sharing activities and inter-observer reliability tests in R.

• design an observational or (quasi-) experimental study, based on an observational pilot study, that answers a self-defined question about the behaviour of an animal of your choice.

Teaching methods

• Hoorcollege
• Werkcollege
• (Computer)practicum
• Veldwerk/excursie
• Presentatie/symposium
• Zelfstudie
• Zelfstandig werken aan bijv. project/scriptie
• Practicum

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• Participation in all practical (computer) sessions, field work and seminars in the curriculum is obligatory and the student is obliged to prepare thoroughly for these meetings.
  

Additional requirements for this course:

• Attendance to all components of the course is obligatory and absence will cause exclusion from the course.

Assessment

Attendance and active participation will weigh in the final grade.

Exam: literature for the exam will be communicated on Canvas. This will include chapters of the required books and several articles. 

Project: when deadlines are not met, no points for that particular assignment will be given. 

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Additional information

This course will be taught in English.

This course is part of the minor/track Evolutionary Psychobiology. Students registered for this minor/track will be placed first (Max. 40 students).

Suggested prior knowledge: Evolution and Human Behaviour: Darwinian Perspectives on Human Nature (2nd ed.) – John Cartwright (2008) or similar book.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. Karline Janmaat

• K.R.L.Janmaat@uva.nl

• Tjitske Sijbrandij, MSc.
• REC-G 1.11; t.c.sijbrandij@uva.nl; 020-525.6796; 06-25.69.05.07