UNIVERSITY AT
BUFFALO 
(formerly Comparative Psychology)
PSY634
SPRING 2010
UNIVERSITY AT
BUFFALO
(formerly Comparative Psychology)
PSY634
SPRING 2010
Prof.
Mark B. Kristal
B71 Park Hall
645-0262 (please do
not leave requests for
callbacks)
Class hours: Fridays,
9:00-11:50, Park 250
Office Hours: Wednesdays
9:00-10:00, Thursdays, 11:15-12:15, and by
appointment
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Drickamer, Vessey & Jacob, Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology & Evolution, (5thEd.),
New York: WCB, 2002.Houck & Drickamer, Foundations of Animal Behavior: Classic Papers with Commentaries. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Except for this page and the schedule of lectures, all material for the
course can be found on UBLearns. If you don't know how to use
it...learn.
Be prepared for a substantial amount of reading and class discussion. There will be a midterm (25%) and, if necessary, a cumulative final (25%). However, if class participation is adequate, the final may be waived. Class participation and possible quizzes will count 10%; presentations will count 15%. A term paper will be worth 25%. If there is no final, the presentation will count 30% and the paper will count 35%.
For class discussion, I may assign particular papers to individual graduate students (at least in the early part of the semester); the student will prepare and present the contents to the class (about a 10-min presentation). The class will be expected to discuss these papers on the basis of these presentations.
During the last third of the semester, students will make major class presentations on categories of behavior (e.g., sexual selection, foraging, dominance hierarchies) which will cut across animal groups (the focus of the presentation will be on the behavior and how various animal groups accomplish the task). The length of the presentations and the schedule will have to be determined later (based on the number of students). You will be able to use the high-tech classroom facilities for your presentations, however, great Powerpoint technique will not be a substitute for high-quality content. You will be graded for individual style and content, and, if several of you coordinate to present different aspects of a behavioral category, you will be graded for the overall organization and coverage of the group. The content of the presentations (and the term papers) must reflect the content of the course -- you have to show that you've learned something from the lectures and readings (concepts, terminology, schools of thought, etc.). Each student presentation should be accompanied by an annotated bibliography handout.
Your individual student term paper will focus on an
animal group or taxonomic category (e.g., wolves, cetaceans, mantids,
spiders, elephants, reptiles) and may
cover
one or possibly several behavioral categories (e.g., courtship,
foraging
and feeding, social interactions, territoriality). It should be around
15-25 pages, and
can
and should be submitted electronically. The topic of the paper should
be
cleared with me by the last class before Spring break. The paper can
not be on the same topic as ther class presentationj, and should nopt
be related to research that are participating in, or have participated
in. Do not wait
until the
last minute to do your term paper. Websites are not acceptable
primary
references. You will have to use books and journal articles -
material
that has been reviewed and approved before publication. Therefore, you
may
have to get some stuff by interlibrary loan. You may then use magazines
and
web sites as secondary information (photos, reports, etc.). Guidelines
for
writing papers can be found in websites listed on the "Useful &
Interesting Links" page on our UBlearns site. As
mentioned in the previous paragraph, the
content of the presentations and the
term papers must reflect the content of the course
-- you have to show that you've learned something from the lectures and
readings (concepts, terminology, schools of thought, etc.). I will also
expect the psapers to be literate, well written, sophisticated, well
referenced, and in APA style. I will run the term papers (anonymously)
through Turnitin, the plagiarism checker. Therefore, I expect you to be
throroughly familiar with the rules on plagiarism. Academic dishonesty
will nnot be tolerated, and will be prosecuted to the extent outlined
by the rules of the SUNY Board of Trustees.
E-mail traffic: Feel free to contact me by e-mail. However, e-mail will not be an acceptable substitute for class attendance and participation. I will transmit good questions, along with my answers and/or comments, to everyone in the class.
Keep your eye on the Update Page on UBLearns. Information regarding assignments, papers, presentations, interesting events, links,etc. will be posted on that page. The information on the other pages (Home page, Supplemental Bibliography, Schedule of Lectures) will not change during the semester.
