Animal Behaviour: An Introduction



Overview

Why do animals behave the way they do? In this course we will look at the full range of behaviours found in the animal kingdom, from simple escape behaviours to complex tool use and their evolution.

The study of animal behaviour, less than 100 years old as a scientific discipline, has demonstrated that behaviours, similar to anatomy and physiology, have been shaped by evolution, while at the same time many behaviours show an astounding flexibility that allow individuals to learn and change throughout their life.

Thus the study of animal behaviour is not only shedding light on the range of fascinating behaviours found in nature, but it also increases our understanding of our animal companions and ultimately of ourselves. In this course, we will explore of a wide range of behaviours, while at the same time getting a comprehensive introduction to evolutionary thinking. During the course we will be using examples from a broad range of animal groups including, foraging in spiders, social behaviours in ants, learning in dogs and tool use in birds and mammals.

This course has no live sessions. You will study structured materials at your own pace each week. Find out more about how our short online courses are taught.

Programme details

The course is broken down into 10 units over 10 weeks, each requiring approximately 10 hours of study time. The following topics are covered:

1. Introduction to the study and definition of animal behaviour

  • What is the study of animal behaviour?
  • Tinbergen’s four questions
  • The sensory and nervous system

2. Evolution, genes and natural selection

  • Darwin and Wallace
  • Genetics and DNA
  • Natural selection in action
  • Genes and behaviour
  • Adaption

3. Foraging behaviour

  • Types of foraging
  • Camouflage and mimicry
  • Trade-off and co-evolution

4. Measuring and analysing animal behaviour

  • Steps involved in studying behaviour
  • Observing and recording animal behaviour
  • The risk of anthropomorphism
  • Using video and online resources in behaviour research
  • Finding and understanding scientific papers

5. Signals, communication and sexual selection

  • Animal senses
  • Signals and stimuli
  • Animal communication
  • Sexual selection and mate choice
  • Mating systems and strategies

6. Kin selection, inclusive fitness and social behaviour

  • Types of altruism
  • Group-living and cooperative breeding
  • The ants and their societies

7. Decision-making and evolutionary stable strategies

  • Long- and short-term decision-making
  • Motivation and the mechanisms of decision-making
  • Evolutionary stable strategies and game theory
  • Inter-individual conflict and the Hawk–Dove game
  • Cooperation, the Prisoner’s Dilemma and tit-for-tat strategies

8. Artificial selection, domestic animals and animal welfare

  • Domestication
  • Applied ethology and animal welfare
  • Getting information from animals on their welfare and suffering
  • Pets and human–animal interactions

9. Learning and memory

  • Habituation and sensitisation
  • Associative learning – classical conditioning
  • Associative learning – instrumental learning
  • Social learning
  • Higher forms of learning and animal teaching
  • Memory and brain structures

10. Animal cognition and tool use

  • Problem-solving, insight learning and intelligence
  • Examples of problem-solving in invertebrates
  • Examples of problem-solving in birds and mammals
  • Tool use
  • Self-awareness and theory of mind

Textbooks

To participate in this course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following book:

Manning, A. and Dawkins, M. S. An Introduction to Animal Behaviour (Cambridge University Press, 2012)

Please ensure you are able to access copies of any required textbooks prior to enrolling on a course but please keep in mind that courses with insufficient students enrolled will be cancelled. The Department accepts no responsibility for books bought in anticipation of a course running.

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online courses are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £415.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Muriel Brasseur

Tutor

Dr Brasseur is a zoologist and behaviourist with a PhD in Animal Behaviour and Genetics. She has studied many species including canids and marine mammals. An animal behaviourist for over 20 years, she specialises in companion animals.

Course aims

This course aims to explore the variety of different behaviours found in a broad range of animal groups, using a scientific and evolutionary approach.

This course will enable participants to:

  • Achieve an overview of the different types of animal behaviours and understand how proximate and ultimate explanations can be used to provide a theoretical framework.
  • Understand how evolutionary thinking and the scientific analytical approach are applied to the study of animal behaviour.
  • Apply this knowledge to analyse and understand behaviour in both wild and domestic animals.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to :

  • Be familiar with a range of different types of behaviours found in both lower and higher animals and understand the theoretical framework used to explain evolution of these behaviours.
  • Understand how evolution has shaped behaviours in the long term through genetic adaptations, and in the short term, through enabling modifications of set behaviours by learning and behavioural flexibility.
  • Have the skills to analyse behaviours and understand the functional reasons behind the expression of these behaviours


By the end of this course students will be expected to have gained the following skills:

  • The ability to measure and analyse animal behaviours.
  • The ability to apply evolutionary thinking to the analysis of animal behaviour.
  • Research Skills: 1) The ability to read and evaluate scientific papers in animal behaviour. 2) The ability to understand and design experiments to test hypothesis in animal behaviour.

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

 

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment form for short courses | Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

Level and demands

10 weeks, 100 study hours at FHEQ level 4

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

IT requirements

This course is delivered online; to participate you must to be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support