Studying how animals learn, use information strageically, and evaluate their options
Animal Comparative Economics lab
Animal Cognitive Ecology
Basic course information
Type: Special lecture series (Spezialvorlesung)
First Lecture:
Lecture times:
Exam date:
Exam type:
Location:
Lecturers:
Credit points:
Language:
Monday 18
Mondays 14:00 - 15:30
Thursdays 15:30 - 17:00
January 11th
Written
DE._2.133
2 SWS
English
In this lecture series we will explore the advanced cognitive abilities of animals – how they learn, reason, think, and interact mentally with the world. The course focuses on assessing animal cognition via behavioural experimentation, and on understanding how animals use their cognitive abilities to adapt themselves to their ecological surroundings.
Some of the topics covered in the course include:
-
Memory and learning, including social learning
-
Perception, including sensory drugging and comparative psychology
-
Advanced cognition, including conceptual learning, metacognition, tool use, and self-awareness
-
Navigation and route learning
-
Collective cognition and group decision making
Some of the topics covered are touched upon by the Ethology and Neurobiology lecture series, but no specific knowledge is expected or assumed.
The course, and the examination at the end, are in English.
Downloadable lecture presentations
Click on a lecture to download the presentation.
Note: presentations will be updated after the lecture. Presentations online before the lecture are from last year, and may be outdated.
For some users, the files are downloaded without the suffix (pptx). If your file does not open, try adding ".pptx" to the file name.
Lecture 1 - Basic learning (TC)
Lecture 2 - Social learning (KK)
Lecture 3 - Decision making and value judgement (TC)
Lecture 4 - Perception psychology 1 (KK)
Lecture 5 - Advanced cognition (TC)
Lecture 6 - Conflict resolution (KK)
Lecture 7 - Collective decision making in invertebrates (TC)
Lecture 8 - Collective decision making in vertebrates (KK)
