Sacramento City College
Animal Behavior and Cognition
PSY 314 Section: 18958
Fall 2016
Lecture: DAC 108 Time: Mon-Wed 9:30-10:50
Instructor: Chris T. Tromborg, Ph.D.
Davis Academic Center Office & Hours: DAC 128: Time: M-W: 11:00-11:30
Main Campus Office & Hours: RHS 286 Time: T-Th: 4:00-5:30
Friday: (Davis Academic Center) Office: DAC 128 Time: 9:00-11:00 by appointment
Phone: SAC 1-916-558-2514 DAC 1-916-558-2514
E-Mail: Website: christromborg.com
Course Assistant: Wendi Wilson
Contact Information:
Required Textbook: Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior (2nd ed.) by Sara J. Shettleworth
Oxford University Press: 2010.
ISBN: 9780-1953-1984-2
Recommended: Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (9th-10th eds.) by John P. Alcock
-Sinauer: 2009- ISBN: 978-0-878-93-225-2
Please consider joining The Animal Behavior and Conservation Alliance club.
Course Description and Objectives
Animal Behavior and Cognition is a course designed for everyone who is interested in, or who has ever lived with and loved animals. In fact, those pursuing a variety of careers will find this course interesting and useful.
The course consists of a broad survey of general topics and current research in the related fields of animal behavior, animal cognition, animal communication, neuroethology, ethology, comparative psychology, ecology, behavioral ecology, interactions between human and nonhuman animals, and conservation biology.
Topics addressed in this course include: The philosophy of science; evolutionary concepts; history of the relationship between nonhuman animals and humans; animal behavior; animal sensation; animal communication; communication between humans and other animals; animals as competitors and resources; research animals and bioethics, animals as companions; animals in therapy and service; animal contributions to human health and well‑being; animal learning and training; animals in zoos; the behavior of captive wild animals; observing and analyzing behavior; and the future prospects for positive interactions between humans and other animals.
Animal behavior and Cognition will particularly interest those students wishing to explore how scientists study communication between human beings and other species. The course addresses issues underlying claims to alleged human uniqueness. It explores the bases of comparisons used to establish the degrees of similarity and difference between humans and nonhumans.
This course is designed to foster a better understanding of the relationship between humans and nonhumans, nurture a respect for nonhuman animals, develop a better appreciation for animal behavior, create a respect for animal cognition, and to create an ethic which emphasizes a respect for all life as humans take their place within the animal kingdom.
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method and its application to the study of animal behavior.
Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between animal behavior and other areas of science.
Evaluate the merits and shortcomings of different approaches employed by animal behavior scientists and the claims made for or against their findings.
Employ critical thinking skills to critique reports presented in the popular press focused on animal behavior, communication, and intelligence, especially claims made about unusual or rare instances of animal behavior.
Articulate and discriminate the evolutionary relationships underlying the rationale for the use of animals in biomedical and neuroscientific research.
Assess and explain how and why animals contribute to human health and well-being, how and why they communicate with humans, and, finally, why animals can be comforting as companions, social facilitators, and as animal assistants.
Conduct a systematic observation of animal behavior, collect, analyze, interpret, and report results.
Articulate an understanding of the common origins of all animals, their common requirements for existence, and that humans are integral members of the animal kingdom.
Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of human expansion on the probability of the future survival of many species.
Develop schemes for enriching the lives of others by introducing them to the world of non-human animal interests and activities.
Please feel free to peruse the bulletin board adjacent to RHS 286 on the main campus for some current topics in animal behavior, cognition, and conservation.
Evaluation Procedures
Students are evaluated on the basis of their performance on exams, participation in class discussion, and attendance.
Students may earn up to a maximum of 200 points in this course. Grading is strictly proportional: Grades are never curved. There will be five equally weighted 50 point exams. Exams consist exclusively of objective test items (multiple choice: Scantron #882-E).
The student's lowest exam score from the second, third, or fourth exams, will be disregarded when the final grades are calculated. Students are allowed up to 60 minutes to complete exams. Exams must be taken when scheduled and can only be rescheduled for compelling reasons authorized by the instructor.
Students may desire to receive 20% of their grade by completing an alternate assignment, in lieu of one exam, either in the form of a literature review on some aspect of animal behavior or on a particular animal, an observational research project, or a service learning exercise. The research exercise involves the observation of some species of nonhuman animal in a venue that the student has some regular access to. The student will select a species, perform bibliographic research on this species, select a study method, observe behavior and collect data, evaluate and interpret the resulting data, and present these either in oral form to the class or in written form to the professor.
The literature review involves the student selecting either a specific species or some particular aspect of animal behavior, performing a literature review of this topic using all available data bases, and then preparing their findings either in oral form to be presented to the class or in written form to be presented to the professor.
The service learning option involves students familiarizing themselves with the concept of service learning, selecting a topic and exploring it bibliographically, and then performing a volunteer service within some venue wherein humans and nonhumans interact. The service must be in a form which enriches the experiences of either humans or nonhumans, or which advances the educational mission of schools, museums, or zoos.
We reserve the right to alter schedules as the semester proceeds
Responsibilities and Suggestions for Success
General Principles of Psychology (PSC 300) is a prerequisite for this course. Introductory Biology would provide students with an extremely useful preparation for the course.
Please activate your S.C.C. G-mail account as soon as possible so that we can communicate with you on a regular basis.
Attendance is important. You are encouraged to attend class: Students who do not attend lecture during the first two weeks will be dropped from the course. Thereafter, students missing more than nine hours of lecture may be dropped from the class. It is your responsibility to officially obtain a withdrawal from this course. Failure to do so may result in a grade of F.
Please attempt to arrive to class on time and plan to remain for the duration of the lecture to minimize disrupting others. Students should refrain from engaging in conversations unrelated
to course materials during lectures in order to minimize disturbing others.
Students are encouraged to remain current in the readings in order to facilitate discussion in class. Prepared students are able to offer informed questions that can clarify points of confusion for themselves and others.
You are expected to bring course related materials to class and to participate in class discussion. Failure to participate will be reflected in your performance on exams and in your final grade.
Outside of class, students should attempt to work together on course materials.
Students must take exams when they are scheduled. A student missing an exam will receive zero points and this score will be treated as their low exam score, which is not entered into the consideration of the final grade.
Students missing two or more exams will automatically be dropped from the class.
Students must arrive within fifteen minutes of the beginning of the exam, after which the exam is closed: Thereafter, you have up to 60 minutes to complete exams.
Cheating on exams will be rewarded with a grade of F and subsequent disciplinary actions.
Students with learning or other disabilities should speak to the instructor, who will place them in contact with support services.
Please deactivate all communications devices during class.
We reserve the right to modify the course schedule as the semester proceeds
Grading Scale
200‑180=A; 179‑160=B; 159‑140=C; 139‑120=D; 119 and below=F.
Please contribute interesting news accounts of animal behavior to the class of
Tentative Course Schedule
The term begins on August 20 and concludes on December 15. The first day of instruction is August 22 and the final day of instruction is December 8. The final exam period extends from December 9 through December 15. The last day to drop with a refund is September 2; the last day to enroll is September 4; the last day to drop without notation is September 4; the last day to petition for “pass/no-pass” grading is September 23; and the last day to drop with a "W" notation on your record is November 15.
The following are holidays: Labor Day is September 5, Veteran's Day is November 11, and Thanksgiving Recess occurs from November 24 through November 27.
Aug. 22-24: Introduction to the course, Textbook, AND instructor's perspectives.
Introduction to Animal Behavior and Cognition
A Question of Animal Awareness
Historical Background
Cognition and the study of behavior
Ch. 1 pg. 3
Why study animal behavior? Common Origins
What is comparative cognition about; Types of explanations for behaviour; Approaches to comparative cognition; Summary.
The Four Questions
Aug. 29-31: Evolution, Behavior, and Cognition: A primer
Ch. 2 pg. 26
Basic CONCEPTS IN NEUROANATOMY AND neurophysiology; Testing adaptation; Mapping phylogeny; Evolution, Cognition, and the structure of behaviour; Evolution and the brain; What does all of this have to do with Comparative Psychology; Summarizing and moving ahead.
The co-evolution of humans and nonhumans
Humans as prey and predator: Nonhumans as predator and prey: Domestication
Review for Exam One
Sept. 7: Exam One
Perception and Attention
Ch. 3 pg. 57
Specialized sensory systems; How can we find out what animals perceive; Some psychophysical principles; Signal detection theory; Perception and evolution--Sensory ecology; Search and attention; Attention and foraging-- the behavioral ecology of attention; Summary.
Sept. 12-14: Learning: Behavioral and Cognitive Adaptation
Introduction to Pavlovian conditioning
Ch. 4 pg. 96
General associative processes; evolutionary, developmental, and sensory constraints on learning; A framework for thinking about learning; When and how will learning evolve; Pavlovian conditioning--conditions for learning; What is learned; Conditional control of behaviour--occasional setting and modulation; Effects of learning on behaviour; Conclusions.
Sept. 19-21: Recognition Learning
Ch. 5 pg. 136
Deviation from general associative learning models; One-trial learning; Habituation; Sensitization; Imprinting; perceptual learning; The behavioral ecology of social recognition--recognizing kin; Forms of recognition learning compared; summary.
Animal Einsteins
Observing and Recording Animal Behavior
Selecting a species and a Location
Sampling Methods and Recording Techniques
Archival Research: Compiling References
Analyzing Animal Behavior: Mean, Median, and Mode
Preparing and Presenting your findings
Zoo Research Supplement
Sept. 26-28: Discrimination, Classification, and Concepts
Ch. 6 pg. 167
Untrained responses to natural stimuli; classifying complex natural stimuli; discrimination learning; stimulus generalization; categorical discrimination and concepts; constraints on learning; Summary.
A Question of Learning
Oct. 3-5: Memory
Ch. 7 pg. 210
Functions and properties of memory; capacity; durability; procedural and episodic memory; Methods for studying memory in animals; Conditions for memory; Species differences in memory; Mechanisms; What is remembered and why is it forgotten; metacognition; Memory and consciousness; Summary & conclusions.
Contemporary Controversies Involving Animals: Competition for Resources Humans as prey: Animals as prey
Plagues of Animals: Animal Overpopulation
Oct. 10-12: Exam Two
Getting Around: Spatial Cognition
Ch. 8 pg. 261
Mechanisms for spatial organization; navigation; migration; Modularity and Integration; Acquiring spatial knowledge: The conditions for learning; Do animals have cognitive maps; Summary.
Animals as Companions
Domestication of herbivorous and carnivorous Animals
The Human/Animal Bond
Animals as Members of the Family and as Social Facilitators
The Psychology of Pet Loss
Oct. 17-19: Timing
Ch. 9 pg. 313
Circadian rhythms; circumlunar rhythms; circumannual rhythms; Interval timing: Data; Interval timing theories; Summary: Two timing systems.
Animals in Service and Therapy
Service Animals: Hearing and Guide Dogs and Other Animals
Effects of Animals on Human Health and Well-Being: Therapy
Animals That Require Therapy; Behavioral Disorders in Pets
Oct. 24-26: Numerical Competence
Ch. 10 pg. 340
Numerosity discrimination and the analogue magnitude system; The object tracking system; Ordinal comparison: Numerosity, serial position, and transitive inference; Labels and language; studies with parrots and marine mammals; Numerical cognition and comparative psychology; Summary.
Oct. 24-26: Bioethics
Animals in Medicine and the Bioethics of Research
Phylogenetic Rationale for Animal Research: Animals as Models of Disease
Animal Welfare Versus Animal Rights
Refinement, Reduction, and Replacement
Animal Care and Use Protocols
Review for exam Three
Oct. 31-Nov. 2: Exam Three
Consequences of Behaviour: Planning, Instrumental Learning, and Using Tools
Ch. 11 pg. 371
Complex Cognition: Choosing a mate; foraging; Long-term and short-term maximizing; Do animals plan ahead; problem solving in chimpanzees, parrots, and dolphins; Causal learning and instrumental behaviour; Using and understanding tools; On causal learning and "Kiljoy" explanations; Summary.
Wild Animals in Captivity
A short history of Zoos
Traditional Zoos: Recreation & Entertainment
Modern Zoos: Conservation & Education
The Modern Ark: Conservators of Nature
The Behavior of Captive wild Animals
Behavioral Enrichment in the Zoo
Nov. 7-9: Social Intelligence
Ch. 12 pg. 417
The social intelligence hypothesis; The nature of social knowledge; Intentionality and social Understanding; self recognition; The theory of mind; Cooperation; Summary.
Nov. 14-16: Fundamental Cognitive Processes
Social Learning
Ch. 13 pg. 466
Animal Social learning in context; Mechanisms: Social learning without imitation; Mechanisms: Imitation; Do non-human animals teach others; observational learning and instruction; Animal cultures; Summary & conclusions.