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 February 3rd: Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

Week of February 10th: Crocodile mothers’ response to hatching calls

Week of February 17th: Navigating the night: effects of artificial light on the behavior of Atlantic puffin fledglings

Week of February 24th: Social modulation of dogs' behavioral synchronization with humans: effect of number of people and owner's presence

Week of March 3rd: Long-term observations reveal short-term mother–calf affiliation in wild harbor porpoises

Week of March 10th: Evaluating indicators of wellbeing in captive grey mouse lemurs, Microcebus murinus, in the context of enrichment