Introduction to Primate Behavior and Cognition-E2
| Numbering Code | U-LAS04 20021 LE46 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ Second semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | Lecture | |
| Target Year | All students | Target Student | For all majors | |
| Language | English | Day/Period | Wed.4 | |
| Instructor name | Duncan Wilson (Graduate School of Letters Senior Lecturer) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course | This class will focus on nonhuman primates (prosimians, monkeys, apes) and why they are of particular interest to many biologists, anthropologists, and psychologists. Students will learn about taxonomic relationships and distribution of primates, their socio-ecological strategies, social systems, and cognitive abilities. Observational and experimental investigations of these and related phenomena will be reviewed and analyzed. The aim is to investigate the ecological and psychological status of primates in today's world. The course also aims to provide students with the opportunity to communicate about primates in English. | |||
| Course Goals | The class aims to help students acquire knowledge about the evolution of primates - their structure, their social and nonsocial behavior, and how they adapt to changing environmental circumstances, and to use written and spoken English to express their knowledge. | |||
| Schedule and Contents |
1. Why study primate behavior? Brief introduction to Primates, and methods of study 2. Primate taxonomy 3. Early influential studies of primate behavior 4. Primate socio-ecology: social organizations and environment 5. Primate socio-ecology: specific adaptations and strategies; responses to habitat change 6. Living together: sympatry, intra- and inter-group competition and cooperation in the wild 7. Living together: experimental approaches to studying competition and cooperation 8. Behavioral adaptations: how genes and experience interact 9. Mechanisms and parameters of social learning 10. Tool use as a foraging adaptation 11. Primate intelligence: evolutionary factors 12. Primates in captivity: the good and the bad 13. Ethical aspects of research on nonhuman primates 14. Recent highlights in the study of primate behavior 15. Feedback Please note that the order and content of specific classes may change. |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy |
Assessment will be based on two components as follows: 1) A mid-term test consisting of 25 multiple-choice questions (each worth 1%) and five short-answer questions written in the students' own words (each worth 5%) (Total: 50%) 2) A final exam consisting of 25 multiple-choice questions (each worth 1%) and five short-answer questions written in the students' own words (each worth 5%) (Total: 50%) |
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| Course Requirements | None | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) | Students are expected to review the lecture handouts after each class, and to consult other sources(books, journals, appropriate websites). | |||
| Textbooks | Textbooks/References | Lecture notes/slides will be distributed. | ||
