Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html ADVANCED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR: Theories and Applications (PSYO 3162 and NESC 3162) Fall term 2020 Lectures: Asynchronous Lecturer and teaching assistant: Function Office hours email Phone # Dr. Simon Gadbois Lecturer Material: Wednesday, 13:00 to 14:00; Advising: Tuesday, 14:00 to 15:00 [email protected] 902–494–8848 Laura Kiiroja, IDPhD candidate Teaching assistant TBA [email protected] n/a Course Description and Course Prerequisites This course focuses on advanced theories and applications of animal behaviour, with a focus on proximate, integrative and applied questions. It ofers a more in-depth analysis of topics covered in NESC/PSYO 2160.03 and explores trends and issues in contemporary ethology, animal psychology and behavioural ecology. FORMATS: Lecture LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3 PREREQUISITES: PSYO 2000.03 or NESC 2007 or BIOL 3062.03 or BIOL 3630.03, and NESC 2160.03/PSYO 2160.03 CROSSLISTED: PSYO and NESC 3162.03 Overview General: This course will focus on advanced theories and applications of animal behaviour, with a focus on proximate, integrative and applied questions. It will ofer a more in-depth analysis of topics covered in PSYO/NESC 2160 and will explore trends and issues in contemporary animal psychology and behavioural biology (ethology, sociobiology/behavioural ecology). Specific: The approach will emphasize proximate issues in animal social behaviour with a special attention to the neurophysiological, endocrinological, social, afective, conative and 1 of 12 2020-09-02, 5:44 PM Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html cognitive underpinnings of communication and social behaviour. Reference to applied animal learning, conservation and behaviour, human-animal interactions and conflicts, welfare and other contemporary issues in animal behaviour will be made. Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes At the end of this course, you will be able to: 1. Understand, explain and apply fundamental principles of behavioural biology and comparative psychology to practical problems in conservation, medical, and other real world applied areas. 2. Understand and explain the advanced principles of animal communication and zoosemiotics, including inter-specific associations and interactions. 3. Understand and explain the role of the behavioural sciences and neurosciences (e.g., neuroecology) in conservation. 4. Understand and explain the diferent applications of the behavioural sciences and neurosciences to applied research in animal behaviour, including in the context of the R&D model (research and development) of applied animal research (the focus will be on non-profit applications, e.g., health and conservation). 5. Synthesize and integrate the methodologies and perspectives of behavioural biology (ethology and behavioural ecology) and comparative (or animal) psychology. For example: Using principles of classical conditioning in wildlife management or captive breeding of endangered species. Course content: Advanced and applied topics in animal behaviour. The focus will be on: 1. Vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) 2. Proximate questions. 3. Communication. 4. Applied animal behaviour. 5. New trends in animal behaviour. 6. Case studies on specific research programs. Course Materials Lecture notes: A Brightspace site is activated for the course. Lecture notes and grades (PDF files of spreadsheet/links to web pages, etc) will be posted. Note that: 2 of 12 2020-09-02, 5:44 PM Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html Lecture notes are posted before class, but updates can be uploaded after class as well. Lecture notes are only an outline, Dr. Gadbois does not use “slides” as a teleprompter. This means that missing class translates into missing crucial information for an exam. You should be annotating the lecture notes provided (outline). Textbook: The following textbook is suggested for students wanting a textbook (but not mandatory, and not at the bookstore. Second hand hard copies are likely available for sale online. Note that the ebook version is cheaper): Bradbury, J.W. and Vehrencamp, S.L. (2011). Principles of Animal Communication, Second Edition. Oxford/Sinauer. Other material: Scientific papers on specific topics may be suggested at any time during the term. Other resources are listed below (“other resources”). Course assessment Evaluations: Test questions are a mix of multiple choice questions, simple true/false questions, multiple select questions and short question/short answer (except for the final). The final is cumulative. Note that you will be tested on: 1. Material from the lecture notes. 2. Material presented in class not included in the readings or the lecture notes. In order to pass this course you need to: Write the two midterms and the final exam. Complete the term project (and submit both parts of the project). And obviously obtain a final grade of 50% or more (minimum D). No resolution of missed exams or non-submitted assessments = INC for the course. Note that an INC that is not addressed within a month of the end of a class will result in a failure of the course (F). Term projects We will require individuals or teams of two (maximum) to prepare a research proposal for a project in animal behaviour. 1. An outline of the project will be submitted for approval. 2. The actual proposal will be submitted/presented: it consists of a virtual (digital) poster presented in a recorded or live session (3-minute presentation). 3 of 12 2020-09-02, 5:44 PM Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html Note that both the outline and the poster will require an electronic submission. A plagiarism detection system will be used in this course. The topics: Presentation of a proposal for a study (experimental or observational; field or lab) looking at a specific behaviour, of a specific species, preferably relating to social behaviour and/or communication. The topics can be: Applied: e.g., wildlife conservation Comparative (comparing 2 or more species. taxa) Proximate: from a neuroecology/neuroethology, sensory ecology/ethology, (neuro)cognitive ethology/ecology, etc. All topics need to be approved by Gadbois and Kiiroja. As mentioned above, both the outline and the proposal need to be submitted to pass the course. Grades: The instructor is required to submit marks in letter grade format. The letter grade equivalents of numerical grades are shown below (from the Dalhousie Common Grade scale). Grades are not negotiable. F D C- C C+ B- B B+ A- A A+ 0–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65–69 70–72 73–76 77–79 80–84 85–89 90+ Assessments: All assessments will be done online. Dates for exams are based on a 24-hour access to the test. Presentations will be done using Microsoft Teams if the students decide to adopt the interactive modality (as opposed to pre-recorded). 4 of 12 2020-09-02, 5:44 PM Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html Evaluations Break-down Dates % of total Midterm 1 October 2nd 20% Midterm 2 November 6th 20% Final exam TBA 20% Project: Virtual poster and short presentation of a proposal 40% Outline (5%) October 2nd Final copy of poster (15%) October 30th 3-minute presentations (20%) — by appointment November 2nd to December 7th Course content This is a topic-based course that uses, among others, themes presented in the textbook mentioned above (Bradbury & Vehrencamp). Note that other topics are covered and are not included in that textbook. I will consult with the class early in the term (lecture 1 and 2) for a focus to the topics to cover from the ones listed below: 5 of 12 2020-09-02, 5:44 PM Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html # Topics Book chapters 1 General intro and animal taxonomy Lecture notes 2 Zoosemiotics and information; proposals Lecture notes 3 Communication and signals Chapter 1 4 Bioacoustics Chapter 2 and chapter 3 5 Social odours, pheromones and olfaction Chapter 6 6 Decisions and information Chapter 8 7 Signal evolution Chapter 10 8 Conflicts and conflict resolution Chapter 11 9 Social integration Chapter 13 10 Environmental signals Chapter 14 11 Communication and social networks Chapter 15 12 Generalities on applied animal behaviour Lecture notes 13 Generalities on “conservation behaviour” or conservation ethology , the importance of behaviour and ethological methods Lecture notes 14 Other ethological considerations in conservation ethology: Habitat selection, foraging, anti-predator behaviour, bioacoustics, individuality and personality, Lecture notes demographic factors, other considerations Other resources (just examples): 6 of 12 2020-09-02, 5:44 PM Advanced Animal Behaviour - Fall 2020 file:///Users/suzanneking/Documents/Data/Data/Syllabi/2020:2021/Fall/NESC_PSYO-3162-Fall-2020-Gadbois.html General: Barnard, C. (2004). Animal Behaviour: Mechanism, Development, Function and Evolution. Pearson. Goodenough, J., McGuire, B., Jakob, E. (2009). Perspectives on Animal Behavior. John Wiley and Sons. Hogan, J.A. (2017). The Study of Behavior: Organization, Methods and Principles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nordell, S. E. & Valone, T. J. (2014). Animal Behavior: Concepts, Methods, and Applications. Oxford University Press. Olmsted, M.C. and Kuhlmeier, V.A. (2015). Comparative Cognition. Cambridge University Press. Ploger, B. J. and Yasukawa, K. (2003). Exploring animal behavior in laboratory and field: an hypothesis-testing approach to the development, causation, function, and evolution of animal behavior. Academic Press. Applied animal behaviour: Blumstein, D.T. and Fernández-Juricic, E. (2010). A Primer of Conservation Behavior. Sinauer. Mills, D. S. (2010). The Encyclopedia of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare.