Course Description
This course presents an integrated approach to the
study of behavior – the phenotype through which an organism interacts
with, and also modifies, its environment. We will study how behavioral
phenotypes are shaped by the social and physical environment. We will
analyze how behavioral phenotypes are implemented through development
by neural physiology, gene networks and individual genes. Conversely,
we will study how behaviors modify the environment and thus impact the
physiology and genetics of organisms as well as the evolution of the
species. Examples will be drawn from both laboratory and field studies
using comparative molecular and behavioral approaches to identify patterns
and recurring themes, which will be discussed in the context of existing
theories about animal behavior
Instructor: Professor Suzy Renn
office: B124
phone: 503 517 7967
email: renns@reed.edu
homepage: http://academic.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/index.html
Course Files: courses server/Biology/Bio342 Animal Behavior.
Course Website: http://academic.reed.edu/biology/professors/BIO342 (accessible
through MOODLE
Course MOODLE: https://moodle.reed.edu/
Office Hours: Tuesday 4:00 - 5:00 PM,
Thursday 5:00 -
6:00 PM,
Friday
9:00 - 10:00 AM,
or by appointment arranged via email (or stop by if
my office door is open)
Course Meeting: Tuesday & Thursday
9:00 - 10:20 AM in B19
Lab Meeting time:
Wednesday OR Thursday 1:10 - 5:00 PM B210 (expect
to stay the full time)
EXAMS: There will be 1mid-term exam1 and one final.
(format to be determined)
WEBSITE PROJECT: Student pairs will create a web site
for an animal behavior of their choice. Students will comment on each other's
draft website 3 weeks prior to the final due date.
For templates and examples from last
years course see
http://academic.reed.edu/biology/courses/bio342f06/index.html
Students have the option to work with the freeware "NVU" or Adobe's
Dreamweaver.
Assignment details are available and detailed instructions for working
in Dreamweaver will be available in lab during week 4.
Student Presentations: Students pairs will present of
a primary literature paper during one of the three presentation sessions.
Those students who are not presenting will prepare answers to Discussion
questions provided by the speakers. download presentation
details.
Discussion and Participation: Students are expected to
come to class prepared to be involved in discussion on all assigned reading.
Specific days will be indicated as "Discussion days". On discussion
days students are expected to complete the assigned discussion questions,
bring these to class, append their response with notes during active dicussion
and hand in the results. (see
the details).
Each student will be allowed to ommit the written assignment (but not participation)
for 2 of the assigned discussion days.
TEXT BOOKS:
Essential Animal Behavior by Graham Scott; available in the bookstore.
This book provides a very simple summary of topics and puts them together
in a logical context. The lectures, discussions, and student presentations
are expected to be at a much higher level with greater detail. (referred
to in syllabus as Scott)
Animal Behavior by Alcock; available on reserve in the library.
This text provides a plethora of examples from an ecological and evolutionary
aspect. Readings will not be assigned from this text, however students
are expected to use the table of contents and index to find relevant topics
for further reading.
Measuring Behavior: an introductory guide by Paul Martin and
Patrick Bateson; available on reserve. This book will be useful for experimental
design during the independent projects. Lab2 will also rely heavily on
part of this book. (referred to in syllabus as M&B)
Foundations in Animal Behavior edited by Linda Houck and Lee
Drickamer; available at the bookstore (or used copies through Amazon.com).
This collection of classic papers includes useful commentary, however all
assigned reading will be available through JSTOR or the Reed Library. (referred
to in syllabus as FAB)
Primary Literature; Many primary literature papers will be assigned.
Due to copy right laws students will be responsible for obtaining their
own copy through the Reed College Library, but links will be provided in
the online syllabus whenever possible.
Students are expected to
print out, & bring to class, all primary literature papers for discussion,
or bring a laptop with the .pdf file. It is not possible to "discuss" a
paper without having it available to read during the discussion.
You may also find the following online text to be useful for a strong
evolutionary perspective. But keep in mind that these chapters have not
been as carefully edited as a text book.
Sinervo
UC Santa Cruz
Class Format:
Consider each class meeting to be a seminar rather than
a lecture. Student involvement is required. Assigned readings are to be
done before class not after. While each class meeting is 80 minutes long,
there will generally be multiple topics covered each day. In general, Tuesdays
will include discussion stimulated by student postings on MOODLE (see below)
and Thursday will include a short discussion on the process of science.
A short break will be provided when time allows.
Course Discussion Expectations:
Students are expected
to come to class prepared to be involved in discussion on all assigned
reading, however, there will be 7 days indicated as "Discussion days" with
prepared questions. Students are required to prepare typed responses these
questions on at least 5 of the 7 days. The "responses" should
be short paragraphs based on the students interpretation of the reading
(outside reading is not required). Responses MUST be typed (double spaced
or just left column), brought to class and handed in at the end of discussion.
During the discussion students are expected to amend their response so
as to include opinions or objections raised by other students. (For
more detail click here)
MOODLE postings/discussions:
There
are 7 days that are indicated as MOODLE forum. This forum provides the
opportunity for students to decide which examples will be covered during
the course. Each Thursday, prior to a MOODLE forum the topic will be defined
in class. Students will then post a primary research paper that is of particular
interest to them. The .pdf file for this research paper must be posted
on the forum no later than Sunday evening along with a brief explanation
regarding the significance of the work and why it was selected. Students
are expected to read and reply to each other's postings in order to kick-start
the discussion for Tuesday in class. Each student must post to a MOODLE
forum at least 3 papers during the semester. The number of replies is not
strictly regulated (this is supposed to be fun). (Detailed
expectations)
Lab Expectations:
Students
will be provided with a copy of all lab handouts. Students are expected
to read these handouts before coming to lab and bring them to lab along
with their lab notebook. Additional copies can be printed from the courses
server or from links provided on the course website. Students will generally
work in pairs, though students will not have the same lab partner throughout
the course and are expected to collaborate equally with all members of
the lab.
There will be a few short lab write-ups and in class presentations
associated with lab, however, a large portion of the lab evaluations will
be based upon the lab notebook. The lab notebook is a record of work that
is done in lab as it is being done. Therefore, lab notebooks are not considered
to be "homework", However, students may find it useful to include
a brief experimental plan before coming to lab and may find it necessary
to complete data analysis outside of official lab meeting time. All work
associated with lab is expected to be recorded in the lab notebook. More
detailed explanation of lab notebook
expectations will be given on the
first day of lab. Lab notebooks will be evaluated! The majority of the
lab exercises are planned to be completed within the 4 hour official lab
time. However there are a few exceptions that will require work outside
of lab time either for preparation or for analysis of the data. These exceptions
will be clearly indicated.
Independent Lab Projects:
Students will conduct
a 6 week research project with one partner (exceptions may be made but
must be cleared with the instructor). During each prepared lab the instructor
will provide ideas for independent projects, however, students are encouraged
to explore any area of animal behavior using any techniques that are available
at Reed College. The previous independent project posters are available
to stimulate ideas. These projects will be evaluated based upon experimental
design, experimental execution, and appropriate use of statistical analysis.
Projects will not be evaluated on the results, or factors beyond the control
of the student. There will be a formal "project management" format
that will be evaluated as the experimental plan. The lab notebook will
be evaluated as a record of experimental execution. There will be a formal
poster presentation session at the end of the semester. All students are
expected to attend the poster session and participate in presenting and
visiting posters. Details regarding the independent project portion of
lab will be provided.
see the lab pages for
more details.
Policies:
Late work will be accepted with a penalty of 15% each day. Penalty-free
extensions will be given in the case of illness documented by the health
center.
Let me know in advance if you need to miss class because of a conflict
with an extracurricular activity. I will make reasonable accommodations,
but not after the fact.
I am committed to accommodating all disabilities.
Please speak with me early in the semester if there is a way I can facilitate
your success in this course.
Evaluation:
CLASS:
- Exams 20%
- Website 10%
- Discussion and Participation 15%
- Student
presentation 10%
LAB
- Labs Write-ups 5%
- Lab Notebook 10%
- Lab Participation
5%
- Independent Project Planning 5%
- Presentation 10%
- IP Notebook 10%
LECTURES, READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Assigned Readings are listed here. Note that labs include
assigned reading in addition to the lab handout. Students are expected
to come to class and lab prepared to discuss these readings. Individual
week web pages contain detailed instruction regarding the specific readings
as well as further readings.
wk |
Date |
Day |
Topic |
Required Reading |
Assignments and Other Stuff |
LAB |
1 |
Sept 2 |
T |
Introduction and Expectations |
|
|
|
Observing Behavior:
M&B ch:4&5 (reserve)
or
Altmann (1974)
|
1 |
Sept
4 |
Th |
Guest Lecture:
David Shepherdson OR Zoo |
Hosey (1997)
Snowden, CT (2004)
|
MOODLE: Animal any behavior research paper |
|
2 |
Sept.
9 |
T |
Evolution of Behavior |
Tinbergen (1963) FAB
Thiery (2005)
Darwin chapter VIII FAB
Scott ch:1
|
|
|
ZOO trip:
M&B ch:6&8 (reserve)
|
2 |
Sept. 11 |
Th |
Sexuality and Sexual Selection |
Tinbergen (1963) FAB
Thiery (2005) |
Goodstein (2000) How Science Works
|
|
3 |
Sept. 16 |
T |
Sexual Selection &
sex role behavior |
Crews (1994)
Scott ch:8
Anderson & Simmons (2006)
Clutton-Brock (2008)
Ryan (1998)
|
MOODLE: Mating Strategy |
|
Guppy Mate Choice:
Dugatin & Godin (1998)
Rodd (2002)
& Morrell (2002)
& Response to Morrell
|
3 |
Sept. 18 |
Th |
Mating Strategies and Alt. tactics
|
Orians (1969) FAB
Goss (1996)Eens and Pinxten (2001) |
Platt (1964) Strong Inference |
Movie: what females
want.
what males wil do |
4 |
Sept. 23 |
T |
Communication I
|
Scott ch:5
Burghardt (1970)
|
|
Field Trip: Vaux Swifts |
Statistics and
Website Design
ALSO
1-2 slide zoo power point presentation
|
4 |
Sept. 25 |
Th |
Communication II |
Scott ch:5
Burghardt (1970) |
Chamberlain
(1890) multiple hypotheses |
|
5 |
Sept. 30 |
T |
Migration |
Scott p:47-56 & 86-92
Emlen (1969) FAB
Moller (2001)
Cain (2005)
Liedvogel (2007)
|
MOODLE: great migrations |
|
Rover/Sitter 1
Osborn et al. (1997)
Fitzpatrick (2007)
NEW:
Sokolowski (2001)
|
5 |
Oct. 2 |
Th |
Learning and Bird song |
Scott p:66-76.
Marler & Tamura (1964) FAB
Marler (2004)
Brenowitz et al (1997)
|
|
|
6 |
Oct. 7 |
T |
Student Presentations |
see MOODL for readings
|
Disc. Questions
3 on Moodle |
|
Rover/Sitter 2
Pereira & Sokolowski (1995)
mating behavior |
6 |
Oct. 9 |
Th |
Review |
West-Eberhard (2005)
|
|
|
take home exam due tues. Oct 14. |
7 |
Oct. 14 |
T |
Nervous System & Behavior
|
Scott ch.2
Roeder & Treat (1961) FAB
Nishikawa (2002)
|
Barnard (2007) Ethical Regulation |
|
Electric Fish lab:
readings TBA
|
7 |
Oct. 16 |
Th |
What is it like
to be a bat? |
|
Cuthill (2007) Ethical Regulation |
|
IP-Project management |
8 |
|
|
Break no class |
9 |
Oct. 28 |
T |
Guest Lecture:
Nate Sawtell, OHSU NSI |
|
|
|
IP -Ghant chart |
9 |
Oct. 30 |
Th |
Behavioral Endocrinology |
Lehrman (1965) FAB
Beach (1949) FAB
Wingfield (1990)
|
|
Spider Fest @
Lewis & Clark
5:00 |
10 |
Nov. 4 |
T |
Genes and Behavior |
Scott p:57-64.
Sokolowski (2001)
NY-Times 2005
NY-Times 2007
Boak (2002)
McKay (2008)
|
|
Website posted to server
by 5:00 |
IP |
10 |
Nov. 6 |
Th |
Genes and Behavior |
Robinson (2005)
Sapolsky (2004)
Renn (2008)
|
Griffiths (2008) History of Ethology |
Movie: Stress in the Wild |
11 |
Nov. 11 |
T |
Student Presentations |
see MOODL for readings
|
Disc. Questions
4 on Moodle |
Website critiques due in
class |
IP |
11 |
Nov. 13 |
Th |
Foraging behavior
|
Scott ch:6
|
|
|
12 |
Nov. 18 |
T |
OFT Disucssion
|
Pierce & Olalson (1987)
Stearns & Schmid-Hempl (1987)
|
|
|
IP |
|
12 |
Nov. 20 |
Th |
Neural Mech. of Reward
|
Smith (1973) FAB
Dawkins Chp. 12
Axelrod/Hamilton (1981)
Lee et al., (2008)
Sugrue et al (2005)
Economist article
|
Kelly (2006) Replication |
|
|
13 |
Nov. 25 |
T |
Student Presentations |
see MOODL for readings
|
Disc. Questions
6 on Moodle |
|
IP-Revise |
13 |
|
Th |
T-Day no class |
14 |
Dec. 2 |
T |
How parasites manipuluate behavior |
Sapolsky (2003) |
MOODLE: Parasites |
Final Websites due on server |
|
14 |
Dec. 4 |
Th |
Adaptationist program
|
Gould & Lewontin (1979)
Mayr (1983)
|
|
|
take home exam
due on Dec9 |
Owens (2006) Where are we going? |
15 |
Dec. 9 |
T is a Th |
"Personality" &
Individual Variation |
Sih et al., (2004)
Wolf et al. (2007)
Storey et al. (2006)
|
MOODLE: Animal Personalities |
|
IP Abstracts due |
15 |
Dec. 17th |
6:00 9:00 |
Poster Presentations |
|
|
IP - Poster visits
IP-Assessment by email
|
|