BIOL 4502: Evolution of Cognition

Course Description

The evolutionary ecology of animal cognitive abilities. Topics include learning, memory, perception, navigation, and communication from an evolutionary perspective. The focus is on cognitive abilities as adaptations, which have evolved to solve specific environmental problems. Topics include empirical methods for assessing cognitive ability, experimental design, theoretical approaches for generating predictions, and the parsimonious interpretation of data. Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.