Field and experimental data on other species are introduced with the aim of illuminating human behavior. Behavior is traced from its evolutionary function as adaptation, through its physiological basis and associated psychological mechanisms, to its expression. The role of ecology and social life in shaping human behavior is examined through the use of ethnographics and cross-cultural materials on a variety of human cultures. Topics include basic genetics, neural and neuroendocrine systems, behavioral development, sex differences, kinship and mating systems, ecology, language, and cognition. An introduction to issues, laboratory techniques, and field methodology in animal cognition.
Students develop and pilot research projects.
Empirical research is accompanied by a critical reading and discussion of papers on such topics as language evolution, concept acquisition, acoustic perception, and domain-specific knowledge. This course explores the nature of human and non-human animal categories and concepts. These questions will be explored by reviewing current papers, as well as through discussion with invited speakers. A challenge for all sciences is to determine what constitutes a reasonableargument based on the data at hand. In this seminar, we explore the kinds of assumptions and theoretical accounts offered by the practitioners of cognitive science and neuroscience.