Animal Psychology: Critical Thinking

Why do animals behave certain ways? In this ongoing class, we will discuss the psychology of animals, or comparative psychology. Comparative psychology is the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals. 

Here's how the class will be structured. During the first half of class, I will explain a research article from a scientific journal. During the second half of class, we will discuss the article using guided discussion questions. Learners will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts about the research.

Learners are welcome to join and leave at any time. I will continually update our schedule below.

Week of January 6th: Responses to Prey Chemical Cues in Wild-Caught, Adult Gopher Snakes (Pituophis catenifer)

Week of January 13th: Bumblebee social learning outcomes correlate with their flower-facing behavior

Week of January 20th: Learning strategies and long-term memory in Asian short-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus)

Week of January 27th: Egg retrieval in ground-nesting cuckoo hosts: can two species of buntings accurately identify and retrieve their own eggs?