Psychology

PSYCH 314

Animal Mind

Course Description
This course is designed to introduce you to the field of cognitive ethology. Cognitive ethology is the study of animal mind in natural settings. We will contrast the position of the cognitive ethologists with that of the behaviorists. Although behaviorism no longer has a strangle hold on psychological theory, the behaviorist paradigm still has a significant effect on experimental psychology. Attributing mind to animals is a controversial step. After examining positions within psychology we will then examine the nonscientific descriptions of animal mind – animal psychics, writers of dog self-help literature and animal rights activists all have opinions on animal thought. These conflicting literatures will allow you to further develop your critical thinking skills as we investigate and debunk some of the notions prevalent in popular literature.

Prerequisites
PSYC 200 and PSYC 201

Offered
Alternate years

Course Credit
Three hours

Course Professor
Dr. Hughes