Undergraduate Programs

BCSC 183: Syllabus

Fall 2025

Time & Location

Mon. & Wed. 09:00–10:15 AM
Location: Dewey Room 2110D

Personnel

Instructor: Dora Biro
Office hours: By appointment

Co-instructor: Oviya Mohan
Office hours: Wed. 10:30-11:30am

Graduate Teaching Assistant: Chen Li
Office hours: Thu. 3:00-4:00pm

Course Description

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”. This famous quote from the eminent evolutionary biologist T. Dobzhansky is at the center the field of comparative cognition. The human mind is as much a product of evolution as the human body, therefore a thorough understanding of human cognition requires us to examine its phylogenetic origins through comparisons with non-humans. This course therefore aims to showcase how studying the mental lives of animals can inform us about the roots of our own cognitive capacities across a multitude of domains. We will examine the processes that allow non-human animals to sense, perceive and learn about the environment, form representations about space and time, reason about the physical and social world, and build societies that collectively solve complex problems and display regional variation in behavior in ways analogous to human culture. The taxa we examine will range from slime molds to humans, and our main focus will be on understanding how natural selection has shaped cognition to suit specific species’ needs, in elegant and sometimes surprising ways.

This course is introductory level and should be accessible to anyone; there are no prerequisites.

Course Objectives

Students will become familiar with:

• the evolutionary process and how human & animal minds are the product of it
• fundamental concepts in comparative cognitive science
• methods of studying animal cognition through observation and experimentation
• how to read and interpret data from graphs
• how to critically evaluate observations of animal cognition and "intelligence"

Course Textbook

There is no course textbook; however, if you do wish to read up further on concepts and research from Animal Cognition, here are a couple of recommendations:

• A highly accessible textbook: Wynne, C.D.L. & Udell, M.A.R. (2020) Animal Cognition: Evolution, Behavior and Cognition. 3rd Edition. Macmillan International.
• A more advanced option: Shettleworth, S. (2009) Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press.

Additional Reading

These will consist of journal articles and will be provided on Blackboard.

Attendance

You are expected to attend all classes. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you are unable to attend, please email the instructor(s) and/or the TA ahead of class, stating the reason for your absence. Beyond the first two unexcused absences, for each class missed without a suitable excuse, 1% will be deducted from your final grade.

Grading

• Your grade will be calculated based on four exams and on contributions to Discussion Boards.
• Exams will consist of a mixture of multiple-choice and short-answer questions.
• Only your three highest-scoring exams will count towards your final grade, each worth 30% (i.e., 90% of the total)
• The remaining 10% of your final grade will be determined based on your class participation and contributions to Discussion Boards linked to “journal club” sessions (see below).
• Grades are rounded to two decimal points (89.99 = 89.99; 89.999 = 90.00). No “grade bumping”.
• Grading scale (note that 94.00% is A-, and 89.99 is B+):

Discussion Boards for Journal Clubs

For each “journal club” class, we will read a specific scientific article (see “Reading” column in the Schedule). You are required to post, at the latest by midnight the night before the class, at least ONE comment or question to the Blackboard Discussion Board linked to that class. These can consist of clarification questions if some aspect of the article was not clear to you, comments on the experimental design, analysis or interpretation of data presented, comments about the broader significance of the study, or suggestions for potential avenues for future research. If you find that your comment resembles that of another student who has already posted theirs, please try to differentiate yours. Articles & Discussion Boards can be accessed under the “Journal Clubs” link on Blackboard.