Fundamentals of Animal Behavior
Fall 2011
Psychology/Animal Behavior 218A
Instructor: Jeff Schank
Email: jcschank@ucdavis.edu
Office: 268D Young Hall
Phone: 752-6332
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:30-11:50 and by appointment
Course description: This is the first of a two-quarter sequence. PSC/ANB 218B will be offered Winter 2012, and led by Andy Sih, Environmental Science and Policy. The goal of this course is to sample current and traditional topics in the field of animal behavior. You will learn about the basic phenomena, concepts, and theoretical approaches of animal behavior, but no two-quarter sequence can provide the entire breadth and depth of animal behavior.
When:
Speakers: Monday: 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM and Tuesday 2:10 PM-4:00 PM
Discussion: Thursday 12:10 PM to 1:00 PM
Adjustments: Due to the nature of this course adjustments may be required for some speakers and discussion.
Where:
Lectures: 188 Young Hall (with possible exceptions)
Discussion: 102A Young Hall
Grading:
40% position paper and leading discussion (you will write 3 papers and lead or co-lead 1 discussion), 15% review papers on 3 of the position papers (you will write 3 review papers on 3 of the discussion papers), 20% participation in discussions, 25% final exam
Course Website:
http://www.agent-based-models.com/
Look under the “Courses” menu.
Course details:
(1) As noted below, different topics will be the responsibility of different speakers. Each speaker has been asked to lecture on the assigned topic, and then moderate a 1-hour (when possible) with a student-led discussion on the topic.
(2) This means that you, the students, will be leading the discussions (this task will rotate among you). Because of the number of people registered, there will often be co-discussants. Please be thinking about what topic you would prefer.
(3) Each speaker will provide readings prior to the beginning of his/her lectures. Please prepare for lectures by reading that material.
(4) Each speaker will assign the associated discussion topic at the beginning of his/her lectures.
(5) Preparation for each discussion will involve
(a) reviewing the lecture and reading material so that
you can lead the discussion, but everyone else is expected
to join in (this is the main part of the 20% participant
discussion);
(b) for a subset of you each time, you will write a
short position paper on the topic (no longer than 2 single-spaced pages) that you will circulate to all parties to read exactly one week after
the topic is discussed. You should look into additional
reading and include references for these papers. You will
send it using the class email list:
anb218a-f11@ucdavis.edu; and
(c) A subset of you, will write a short review of the
position paper (between 1/2 and 1 page
spaced pages). The review will briefly
discuss the the strong points of the position
paper and the weak points (e.g., "I think the author
should have included more about X", or "I do not
think that topic X is fundamental to the topic."
or "I think that that X is better, explained or
articulated as this..."). The short review will
be due 3 days after you receive the discussion paper.
You will send out your review using the
class email list: anb218a-f11@ucdavis.edu.
CLASS SCHEDULE – FALL, 2011
Fundamentals of Animal Behavior (ANB/PSC218A – Schank Instructor)
Lecture times – M, 10:00-11:50 AM; T, 2:10-4:00 PM; Discussion times – TR, 12:10-1:00 PM (with possible exceptions indicated in red)
1. Monday – Sept. 26 – Organize; Introduction, Jeff Schank
Readings (1) On the aims and methods of ethology (2) Complexity and Organization Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:part 1:
(11.3 MB) part 2:
2. Tuesday – Sept. 27 – Communication, Gail Patricelli
Readings (1) Signaling (2) Avian psychology and communication Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
Thursday – Sept 29 – Discussion – Jeff Schank – Introduction Audio file:
3. Monday – Oct. 3 – Communication, Gail Patricelli
Readings (1) Complex signal function: developing a framework of testable hypotheses. (2) What do animal signals mean? (3) The central importance of information in studies of animal communication. (4) Information and Communication Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
4. Tuesday – Oct. 4 – Communication, Gail Patricelli
Readings (1) Animal Signals: Models and Terminology. (2) The cost of honesty and the fallacy of the handicap principle Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
5. Monday – Oct. 10 – Quantitative genetics, Andy Sih
Readings (1) Multivariate inheritance and evolution: a review of concepts (2) The genetics of fish behavior Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
6. Tuesday – Oct 11 – Quantitative genetics, Andy Sih
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
7. Monday Oct. 17 – Genomics, Brian Trainor
Readings (1) Natural variations in maternal care are associated with estrogen receptor expression and estrogen sensitivity in the medial preoptic area. (2) Serotonin transporter genotype x construction stress interaction in rats. (3) Gene expression profiles in the brain predict behavior in individual honey bees. Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
8. Tuesday Oct. 18 – Genomics, Brian Trainor
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
9. Monday Oct. 24 – Methodology, Jeff Schank
Readings (1) The Earth Is Round (p < .05) (2) Pseudoreplication and the Design of Ecological Field Experiments (3) Pseudoreplication is a Pseudoproblem (4) The Ancient Black Art and Transdisciplinary Extent of Pseudoreplication (optional) (5) Pseudoreplication Is (Still) a Problem (optional) (6) Pseudoreplication Conventions Are Testable Hypotheses (optional) (7) Trade-Offs in the Design of Experiments (optional) (8) An Ancient Black Art (optional) (9) Logic of experiments in ecology: is pseudoreplication a pseudoissue? (optional) (10) An Entomologist Guide to Demystify Pseudoreplication: Data Analysis of Field Studies With Design Constraints (optional) Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
10. Tuesday Oct. 25 – Development, Jeff Schank
Readings (1) A stroll through the worlds of animals and men: A picture book of invisible worlds – Skim through it to get an idea of the notion of Umwelt (2) A critique of Konrad Lorenz's theory of instinctive behavior. (3) Metaphors and the role of genes in development. (4) An ecological approach to behavioral development: insights from comparative psychology. Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
11. Monday Oct. 31 – Learning/Cognition, Richard Coss
Readings (1) I. P. Pavlov: Classical Conditioning (2) Burrhus F. Skinner: Radical Behaviorism (3) Skinner Glossary Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
12. Tuesday Nov. 1 – Behavioral endocrinology, Tom Hahn
Readings (1) Hormonal control and evolution of alternative male phenotypes: generalizations of models of sexual differentiation (2) Variation in reproductive behaviour within a sex: neural systems and endocrine activation Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
13. Monday Nov. 7 – Behavioral endocrinology, Tom Hahn
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
14. Tuesday Nov. 8 – Behavior Schedules, Tom Hahn
Readings (1) Organization of vertebrate annual cycles: implications for control mechanisms Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
15. Monday Nov. 14 – Behavior Schedules, Tom Hahn
Readings (1) Diurnality and nocturnality in nonhuman primates: comparative chronobiological studies in laboratory and nature Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
16. Tuesday Nov. 15 – Movement and Migration, Marilyn Ramenofsky
Readings (1) Behavioral Endocrinology of Migration (2) ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AFFECT THE BEHAVIOR OF CAPTIVE, MIGRATORY WHITE- CROWNED SPARROWS (3) Regulation of Migration Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
17. Monday Nov. 21 – Agent-Based Models of Behavior, Jeff Schank
Readings (1) Agent-based modeling: Methods and techniques for simulating human systems (2) Agent-Based Modeling: A New Approach for Theory Building in Social Psychology (other than human examples, the points made here apply to animal behavior as well) (3) A standard protocol for describing individual-based and agent-based models (4) Beyond Reductionism: Refocusing on the Individual with Individual-based Modeling Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
18. Tuesday Nov. 22 – Social bonding: evolution, physiology, neurobiology, and development, Karen Bales
Readings (1) Social effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matter (2) Consequences of Early Experiences and Exposure to Oxytocin and Vasopressin Are Sexually Dimorphic (3) Are behavioral effects of early experience mediated by oxytocin? Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
19. Monday Nov. 28 – Animal Welfare, YeunShin Lee
Readings (1) Understanding Animal Welfare. (14.8 MB) (2) Behavioral development in animals undergoing domestication. Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
20. Tuesday Nov. 29 – Animal Welfare, YeunShin Lee
Readings Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
FINAL EXAM – Dec. 10, 24h take home (Tentative)