Psychology 4290G-001

Special Topics in Animal Behaviour and Animal Cognition

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

Selected topics of current interest in psychology.

Prerequisites: Psychology 2220A/B, 2221A/B or Neuroscience 2000, and registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology, Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Honours Specialization in Neuroscience, Honours Specialization in Physiology/Psychology or Honours Specialization in Animal Behaviour.

Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who receive 70% in the prerequisite course may enrol in this course.
3 seminar hours, 0.5 course

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor: David Sherry        
Office and Phone Number: Advanced Facility for Avian Research    Ext 84659      
Office Hours: By appointment        
Email: sherry@uwo.ca    

Teaching Assistant: Adriana Diez        
Office:  Advanced Facility for Avian Research            
Office Hours:  By appointment    
Email: bdiezmed@uwo.ca    

Time & Location of Classes:    Thursdays 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM, Weldon Library Room 257

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.  You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Shettleworth, S.J.  (2012) Fundamentals of Comparative Cognition.  Oxford University Press: Oxford

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course surveys current research in animal cognition, emphasizing the central role of cognition in the lives of animals in nature.  Much of animal behaviour has a substantial cognitive component, including foraging, migration, mate choice, parental care, and communication.  Cognitive abilities such as memory, spatial orientation, numerical ability, and timing make essential contributions to survival and reproduction in nature. This course will address a broad range of questions about animal cognition, including the relation between simple rules of learning and complex cognition, evolutionary specialization of learning, and the relation between cognition in animals and humans. 

5.0     EVALUATION

Students are expected to attend all classes and to read all assigned material.  Each student will select one of the weekly topics for which they will prepare and lead class discussion of assigned materials and any additional material they wish to present.  Students will usually lead class discussion in groups of two. An essay on the topic of the presentation will be submitted no more than 2 weeks after the presentation.  Each student will also select four topics on which they will prepare short thought papers.  Evaluation will be based on the presentation, essay, thought papers, and participation.


Participation in Discussion    10%
Thought Papers    20%    4 at 5% each
Class Presentation                   35%    
Essay        35%    Due 2 weeks following presentation

Leading Class Discussion. Students are expected to introduce and discuss the assigned material, raise questions about ideas and research findings, and describe any additional research results or topics they have examined.  Each class discussion will be led by a group of students, and each student will participate in leading one class discussion. Students may wish to use PowerPoint especially to show figures, illustrations, graphs or tables.

The Essay is a written description and discussion of the topic presented in class. The essay can also have a broader coverage and can include material not presented in class.  Maximum length is 10 double spaced pages, about 2500 words.  Style should follow the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual.   Essays are due two weeks following the class presentation.  

Thought Papers are short (500 word maximum) reports on an assigned reading or readings for class, selected by the student.  Each student will submit 4 thought papers. Thought papers on an assigned reading are due the day that reading is discussed in class.  Thought papers are intended to be brief discussions of assigned articles and can include critiques, commentary, questions, comparisons to other research results, proposals for further research, relevant ideas discussed in other courses, or similar material.  
 
Class Participation is marked on the basis of participation in discussion.  


Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:


70%    1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):

A+    90-100    One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail

6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

There are no tests or examinations in this course.  Evaluation is based on the components described above in Section 5.0

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

January 7     Introduction

        14    Cognitive Components of Foraging I
            Memory
        
        21    Cognitive Components of Food-Caching
            Spatial Ability

        28    Cognitive Components of Migration
            Spatial Ability

February 4    Cognitive Components of Foraging II
            Timing, Time-Place Learning

        11    Cognitive Components of Social Behaviour
            Social Cognition, Concept Formation

        18    Reading Week No Class

        25    Cognitive Components of Parental Care
            Individual Recognition

March       3    Cognitive Components of Brood Parasitism
            Discrimination, Numerical Ability

        10    Cognitive Components of Foraging III
            Numerical Ability

        17    Physical Cognition
             Tool Use, Nest Building

        24    Cognitive Components of Communication
            Referential Communication, Theory of Mind
 
        31    The Minds of Animals
            Episodic-like Memory, Future Planning, Metacognition



8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html


10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences

- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.