PSYCHOLOGY 457/4 - 01 (Winter 2023)

Foundations of Animal Behaviour

Mondays and Wednesdays 2:45 – 4:00

Instructor: Dave Mumby (david.mumby@concordia.ca)

Overview: This course examines the development and organization of behaviour from an evolutionary
perspective. The aim is to acquaint students with numerous examples of fascinating and sometimes puzzling
behaviours displayed by nonhuman animal species, and the kinds of research conducted to better understand
why and how those behaviours have evolved. Evolutionary processes are emphasized throughout the course.
Some of the behavioural domains covered include: development, aggression, communication, finding food,
avoiding predators, migration and territoriality, sexual selection, mating, parental care, cooperation and
altruism. (Note: Although PSYC 354 - Evolutionary Foundations of Behaviour - is not a prerequisite for this
course, most students will benefit from taking PSYC 354 before PSYC 457).

Textbook and Journal Articles: D. Rubenstein, Animal Behavior, 12th edition (eBook is available). There
will be a few additional required readings – journal articles, which can downloaded from the Concordia
library website. The journal articles were chosen to bring students into closer contact with research on
animal behaviour than can be achieved with only the textbook. Students will be provided with a list of
journal articles at the start of the semester.

Course Delivery Format: We will use a blended format. Each week, there will be an in-person lecture (or
exam) on Monday, and an additional pre-recorded lecture will be uploaded to moodle on Tuesday. Our
meeting on Wednesday will be on Zoom; these sessions will be used primarily to answer students’ questions
about the lectures or readings material, and attendance will be optional, as no new material will be presented.
There will be no in-person office hours, but students may schedule one-on-one meetings with the instructor
on Zoom.

Students should expect that some topics covered in the lectures may not be covered in the readings, and
vice versa, so should be prepared to study all of the assigned readings and attend or review all lectures. The
in-person lectures will not be recorded, so it will be important to attend class on Wednesdays.

Please note also that you may not share the recorded lectures posted to moodle, and the professor will only
share class recordings for the purpose of course delivery and development. Any other sharing may be in
violation of the law and applicable University policies, and thus may be subject to penalties.

Evaluation: There will be three exams. The first exam will be worth 25% of a student’s final grade, the
second will be worth 30% of the final grade, and the final exam will be worth 45% of the final grade. Exams
will be noncumulative with respect to the main topics and readings that are covered, but cumulative with
respect to themes and concepts that run through the course. All exams will be in-person.

First midterm date: Wednesday, February 6

Second midterm date: Wednesday, March 13
Final Exam date: TBA

Grading: The following grading system will be used to convert numerical (percentage) marks into letter grades.
A (80-100%)
Within this range, 80 to 85% is A-, 85.1 to 95% is A, above 95% is A+.
B (70-79%)
70 to 72.5% is B-, 72.6 to 77.5% is B, and 77.6 to 79.9% is B+.
C (60-69%)
60 to 62.5% is C-, 62.6 to 67.5% is C, and 67.6 to 69.9% is C+.
D (50-59%)
50 to 52.5% is D-, 52.6 to 57.5% is D, and 57.6 to 59.9% is D+.
F (below 50%)