Animal Behavior 200.208
Macaulay Hall Room 101
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 to 12:00 PM
Instructor:
Office Hours:
Email:
Farrah N. Madison
Tues. 2-3 PM & by appt
fmadison@jhu.edu
Office: 416 Dunning Hall
Extension: 6-8879
Text: Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, 9th Edition by John Alcock, 2009
Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, MA
Course Description:
The central topic of this course is the biological basis of behavior. It will
concentrate on the study of behavior in non-human vertebrates, with some discussion of
invertebrates and humans. The course concerns both the mechanistic control of behavior
and the psychobiology of behavioral development as well as the adaptive significance
and evolution of behavior. The course will begin with a review of the fundamentals of
evolutionary theory and natural selection and the concept of animal species. There will
then follow an analysis of behavioral development and the causation of
behavior. Subsequent lectures will explore the causes of the major classes of social
behavior such as reproductive behaviors, communication, mating systems, and
aggression. This section will also include a consideration of sexual selection and its
relevance to our understanding of sex differences in behavior. There will also be a
discussion of significant issues in behavioral ecology including foraging behavior, habitat
selection and the origin and function of territoriality. The course will end with a
consideration of the evolution of social behavior in non-human animals and in humans.
Course Requirements:
There will be three midterm examinations and a cumulative final exam. There is
also a required 7 page paper that is due in class on 26 July 2012. The topic for this paper
must be handed in to be approved by Dr. Madison, by the 12th of July. You need to
submit a brief written description of your paper topic.
All students will be expected to master the material covered by the lectures and by
the readings. These two sources will not completely overlap so students are expected to
attend all class sessions as well as to follow the schedule of readings listed in this
syllabus. The exams are 200 pts each (35% of final grade), final exam is worth 300pts
(45% of final grade) and a review paper worth 100 pts (20% of final grade). There will
be NO MAKE-UP EXAMS, so…please do not ask for one. If for some reason you have
to be absent for a good reason (e.g., a documented illness) please contact me IN
ADVANCE. Also, NO late papers will be accepted for grading under ANY
circumstances. Please do not ask for an extension; it will not be granted. Early papers
will be cheerfully accepted. There is NO senior option.
Paper Assignment:
As noted above in the syllabus, you will be required to write a paper for this
course. This paper will be due on 26th July. You must have decided on your topic by
12th July. I would like you to think of this paper as a "case study" in animal
behavior. The first step is to identify an animal behavior that interests you. I then want
you to analyze it from the perspective of its proximate causes and its ultimate
causes. This will require you to read several articles in the "primary" literature (i.e.,
scientific journal articles) and summarize their results.
When you are ready to choose a topic, you can get ideas from the lectures and the
textbook reading and you then might start by reviewing what has been done on the topic
by investigating papers in electronic databases such as the Web of Science that is
available via the Web of Knowledge (http://portal.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi) or
PubMed (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/). You can also use the Web of Science to
determine the researchers who are studying the topic that interests you. You can access
these databases via the Johns Hopkins Library web site. You should search under “online
resources” by subject and either under Biology or Psychology you can then click on Web
of Science. You should expect to find papers to read and cite in the relevant scientific
journals. I list some possible journals of interest below. Once you have decided on a
topic of interest, it is useful for you to explore the scientific literature for research on that
topic using electronic databases. It is not acceptable to use web sites as citations
unless they are refereed (i.e., outside peer review) scientific journals or review
chapters from books. You must cite scientific journals and reviews that have been
published in reputable journals or in some cases, edited books. Also, in general, it is not
a good idea to cite the textbook. For general background information please cite review
articles. Most of the recent journals are available on the web, but in many cases you will
have to look up articles in the library after finding the citation elsewhere.
You should organize the paper in the following way 1) Describe the context and
natural history of the species and the behavior of interest. 2) Answer the question "What
is the adaptive significance of the behavior?" 3) Answer the question "What proximate
stimulus factors and what physiological mechanisms regulate the presentation of the
signal?” This will require that you pick a species and a behavioral system that has been
studied to a certain degree. You may be able to get ideas from the readings or from the
lectures. Feel free to ask Dr. Ball, Dr. Madison, or one of the TA’s for suggestions about
where to look for information about a species that particularly interests you. The style of
the paper should employ some variant of the referencing system used in scientific journal
articles. The length of the paper should be in the range of 7 double spaced pages.
Some journals of possible use for your paper:
Animal Behaviour; Behavioral Ecology; Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology;
Behaviour; Ethology; Journal of Comparative Psychology
Date
Topic
Assigned reading
from Alcock Text
2 July
Historical Perspective; Ultimate & Proximate
Approaches to Behavior
Chapter 1&2
3 July
Development of behavior
Chapter 3
5 July
Learning, Instinct and Development
Chapter 3
9 July
Neuroethology
Chapter 4
10 July
Neural and Hormonal Control of Behavior
Chapter 5
12 July
Biological Rhythms and Behavior
PAPER TOPIC DUE TODAY!
Chapter 5 (Iyilikci)
16 July
Midterm Examination
17 July
Behavior as an Adaptation
Chapter 6
19 July
Optimality Theory and Feeding Behavior
Chapter 7
23 July
Territoriality and Habitat Selection
Chapter 8
24 July
Sexual Selection & Courtship Behavior
Chapter 10 (Alward)
26 July
Mating Systems & Parental Behavior
Chapter 11&12
PAPER DUE TODAY IN CLASS AT 9:30AM!
30 July
Evolution of Social Behavior
31 July
Human Sociobiology/Evolutionary Psychology I
2 Aug
Final Examination
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
FINAL EXAMINATION: Thursday, 2 August 9:30-12PM
Ethical Considerations:
The strength of the university depends on academic and personal
integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include
cheating on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet
and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments,
forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair
competition. For this class you should review ethical guidelines that are relevant to
the examinations and to the required paper. All of the examinations are closed
book. No notes may be used during the examinations, nor may you confer with your
fellow students or look at their examination papers for answers. Prior to the
examinations all students are encouraged to study in small groups. One of the best
ways to prepare for the examinations is to work together and ask each other to
explain the concepts and facts that will be covered by a given
examination. However, once you enter the examination room you are expected to
work alone. For the paper you write, you may discuss your topic with the other
students and exchange references. However, you may not work together on the
write-up. Also be careful to properly cite all sources. Any text directly copied from
another source should be in quotation marks and properly cited. All papers are
subject to be checked for originality via Turnitin.com. Report any violations you
witness to the instructor. You may consult the associate dean of students and/or
the chairman of the Ethics Board beforehand. See the guide on “Academic Ethics for
Undergraduates” and the Ethics Board web site (http://ethics.jhu.edu) or the
Undergraduate Student Handbook for more information
(http://www.jhu.edu/design/oliver/academic_manual/ethics.html#ethics).