PSY 252F - Introduction to Animal Behaviour

Prof. Tom Alloway

Fall 1998 Course Outline

Text: Dawkins, Richard (1989) The Selfish Gene. New Edition. NY: Oxford University Press.

Computer Program: SimLife. Maxis, available for DOS, Macintosh, or Windows.The SimLife program has been discontinued by the publisher and is no longer available in most stores. Copies can be ordered from:
EA Store - http://www.store.ea.com
Voice phone: 1-800-245-4525
FAX: 1-605-513-7035
Mail: Electronic Arts, 1450 Fashion Island Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94404.

Reading Assignments: The Selfish Gene should be read through at least once before the first term test. Pay attention to the endnotes. They contain much recent information not found in the main body of text. Your goal with this text should be to understand it thoroughly so that you can apply the ideas it contains to answer test questions and to design computer simulations. You will also need to read the SimLife manual and become thoroughly familiar with the program's capabilities and limitations.

Tests and Final Examination: There will be two term tests (to be written in class on October 30 and December 11) and a final examination. The term tests will be based on the lecture notes, SimLife, and Dawkins. You should be prepared to answer any question about Dawkins and SimLife for both term tests. The final examination will be based mainly on Dawkins. Each term test and the final examination are worth 25% of the final mark. Both term tests and the examination will be in a short answer-essay format. If you miss a term test without adequate excuse, you will receive a mark of zero. With an adequate excuse, your other term test mark will count twice as much. Medical excuses must be submitted to the Psychology Programme Coordinator, and the physician must state that you were physically unable to write the test on the date specified. The Programme Coordinator or I may call your physician to verify the excuse.

Computer Lab and Term Project: We will meet most Fridays in the Psychology Computer Lab, where you will learn to use SimLife and be assigned exercises to perform. During the week of October 26-30, you will meet with me individually to discuss a SimLife term project which you will then perform, write up, and submit by December 4. The term project will account for 25% of your final mark. (Five marks will be deducted from your project grade for each day the project is late.)

Lecture Topics:
1. Evolution
3. Altruism, Selfishness, Spite
4. Adaptation
5. Evolutionarily Stable Strategies
6. Co-operation
7. Ant Behaviour.

Lecture Notes and Old Tests: I will be making extensive use of computer-generated slides during lectures. Copies of these slides can be purchased for the cost of duplicating. Probably the best way to make lecture notes is to obtain a copy of the slides, bring your copy to class with you, and make notes as annotations to the slides. Copies of old term tests are also available. These old tests will give you a good idea of what to expect on your tests. If you understand how to answer the questions from the old tests, you should do very well. The key here is understanding. Don't just look up and memorise the answers to questions on the old tests.

Help Outside Class: If you need additional help, you should feel free to telephone or meet with me. The best time for booking appointments is at a class meeting. My office is Room 3036 in the South Building. My office telephone number is 905-828-5370. You can also correspond with me via e-mail. My e-mail address is antguy@abspruce.org. Please state in the subject designation of your message that it pertains to PSY 252F. I will try to answer all messages within 24 hours.

Words to the Wise: If you hope to make an A or B in this course, you should be prepared to do the following things:
a. Attend class regularly, annotate a copy of the printed slides to produce lecture notes, and study for the term tests using these annotated notes.
b. Read, outline, and carefully study the Dawkins text. Simply reading through the text once or twice will probably not be sufficient.
c. Spend at least two hours studying outside class for each hour spent in class.
d. You will also need to spend several hours a week collecting and recording computer data for the SimLife evolution simulations.