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Created by:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Last updated:

December 19, 2022

Duration:

Unlimited Duration

FREE

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This course includes:

Unlimited Duration

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Certificate of completion

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Description

The introductory topics will cover various approaches to the study of animals and their behavior.

Key concepts in studies of animal behavior, emphasizing ethology, are covered in class and in the assigned readings from Scott (2005), supplemented by selections from other books, especially from classics in the field as well as selected videos. Next, key concepts in sociobiology are covered using readings from Alcock (2001), supplemented by selections from additional books and some video presentations

Course Curriculum

Introduction: class requirements, various approaches to animal behavior and its study Unlimited
Introduction to ethology; three–spined stickleback fish Unlimited
Introduction to ethology (cont.); field studies of birds; Niko Tinbergen’s questions Unlimited
Ethology (cont.); Konrad Lorenz’ Jackdaws Unlimited
Ethology of geese; fixed action patterns and the CNS Unlimited
Fixed action patterns and the CNS (cont.) Unlimited
Input and output sides of innate behavior; motivation Unlimited
Innate behavior and motivation (cont.); Lorenz on fundamentals of ethology: The “fixed action pattern” Unlimited
Lorenz on fundamentals of ethology Unlimited
Lorenz on fundamentals of ethology Unlimited
Lorenz on fundamentals of ethology Unlimited
Evolution; development & plasticity of behavior Unlimited
Evolution; development & plasticity of behavior Unlimited
Communication; Meerkats of the Kalahari Desert Unlimited
Communication; Meerkats of the Kalahari Desert Unlimited
Foraging; anti-predation behavior Unlimited
Anti-predation behavior Unlimited
Mating & reproduction Unlimited
Introduction to sociobiology Unlimited
Sociobiology subject matter Unlimited
Wilson path analysis Unlimited
Genetic influences on social behavior Unlimited
Domestic cat; scientific method in sociobiology Unlimited
Discoveries of sociobiology Unlimited
Discoveries of sociobiology (cont.) Unlimited
E. O. Wilson’s Sociobiology Unlimited
Critique of cultural determinism Unlimited
Sociobiology and culture; Practical issues and sociobiology Unlimited
“The triumph of sociobiology”; Konrad Lorenz on learning Unlimited
Konrad Lorenz on learning (cont.) Unlimited
Konrad Lorenz on learning (cont.); Video: The Great Apes Unlimited

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