John Limber, 108 Conant Hall; office hours Mon 12-1,Wed. 12:30-1:30, and by
appointment . Phone 862-3175 but do not rely on voice messages! E-mail:
jel@christa.unh.edu (I check this every day and will try to promptly answer any
questions sent me.)
Bryne, R., (1995). The thinking ape. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Jones, S., Martin, R. D., & Pilbeam, D. (Ed.). (1992). The Cambridge
encyclopedia of human evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(This is not a typical text but an encyclopedia with lots of relevant
information. It is an excellent book value and I recommend that you have
access to a copy. One copy will be on reserve.)
I have put together a set of readings that cover many aspects of the study of
primate behavior -- history, research, and conjecture about evolution.
These are on reserve.
Additional notes and primate information will be found on my www "homepage"
under the heading of "Primates." You can access this with Netscape (click) or
lynx (right arrow key). For example from any UNH terminal you can type:
lynx http://pubpages.unh.edu /~jel Lynx does not allow viewing graphics but
will enable you to read (and print) notes and exam information.
The foremost goal of this course is to further our understanding of human
nature through a comparative and contrastive study of primates. We will focus
primarily on the behavior of large primates including us humans but we will
also look into the biological and evolutionary foundations of those behaviors.
Inevitably there will be discussion of various methodological, historical,
philosophical and ethical issues surrounding primates and their study.
Your grade will be based primarily on 4 exams, a final 6 to 8 page paper worth
about 1 exam, and class participation (<10%). There will be no makeup
exams; plan ahead for Feb.14, Mar 10, April
14, May 07. No final exam!
The exams will include multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions; a
study guide will be available at least a week before each exam. Essays must be
written in a "blue" exam booklet. The exams are somewhat cumulative but will
focus on recent material as indicated in the guides.
This may be on any topic related to course material. It must be in APA style
in regard to footnotes and references. See Bryne (1995) for an example of this
style. You will lose points for incomplete references. The structure
and goals will vary for each of you but all --with few exceptions-- should
involve (1) a brief review of the topic, (2) a comparative analysis with some
implications for human psychology, (3) at least two references within the
last two years and (4) some explicit reference and integration with class
readings, discussions, and videos where appropriate. Everyone will turn in a
list of possible topics and an outline. All outlines (with references) must
be approved by me before you begin the paper; these outlines must be attached
at the end of your paper when submitted. You may submit your topics and
outline any time before the dates given below. I assume you all know the
difference between summarizing others ideas and plagiarism; if you have any
questions see me. When in doubt, cite the source of your idea.
I expect everyone to attend class and contribute to the discussion--many of you
may have expertise in topics relevant to this class. An very important
component of this course are the videos-- which cannot be made up later. You
will be responsible for any information discussed in class, shown in videos, or
raised in your readings whether discussed or not. If you don't understand--ask!
Nearly all of your assignments will be given well in advance but on occasion
new material comes along and I will give something not on this schedule. You
should read the material on or before the dates shown on the schedule below-use
the exam guides for specific details. Full references are given below; I have
used abbreviations TA for Bryne (1995) and EHE for Jones et al (1992).
Thinking Ape (TA) v-30
video "Life in the trees."
Pruess, T. (1995). Evolution and cognitive neuroscience. [only the Figure 81.2
and paragraphs below]
Info on the primate family in EHE: 1:33; Appendix 2 (p. 454-455)
EHE 2.8 -2.9 locomotion pp.75-85
EHE 3.1 primate brains and senses; 3.2 the human brain, pp.109-123.
Limber, J. (1982). What accounts for our fascination with the language of
apes? unpublished manuscript, Durham, NH. [Sample what the ancients
thought; and especially read Descartes' ideas on differences between humans and
brutes. Many today believe recent research on nonhuman primates has destroyed
Descartes' argument--but has it??[1-26]]
week 03 evolution: history and theory
Greene, J. (1959). Death of Adam . Ames: Iowa State University Press.
[Read about Lamarck, and others in ch.5, p.155-173. Then ch. 6 "Man's place in
nature", pp.175-199 documenting how the knowledge of large apes grew in 18th
and 19th century.][27-49]
Darwin, C. (1871/1981). The descent of Man, and selection in relation to
sex (Photoreproduction of the 1871 edition ed.). Princeton: Princeton
University Press. [Read ch. 1 "The evidence of the descent of Man from some
Lower Form, pp.9-33; also ch. 2, "Comparison of mental powers...." pp.34-69.
Note Darwin's use of primate anecdotes in his argument.][50-82]
EHE 6.6 Evolution of early humans, pp. 241-251.
"brains"
Gould, S. J. (1977). Ontogeny and phylogeny . Cambridge: Harvard
University Press. [Read ch.10 "Retardation and neoteny in human evolution",
pp. 352-404. This is a complex chapter (see my notes) but it is very
important. These ideas are fundamental to a plausible story of how all large
apes might have a common ancestor].[83-109]
exam1, Friday, Feb. 14
review brain development and sensory
systems
EHE on intelligence: pp. 111, 115-119, 341,
Harlow, H. F., & Mears, C. (1979). The human model: primate
perspectives . Washington, D. C.: Winston & Sons. [Read pp.1-29]
[110-124]
TA ch. 3 "What is intelligence?" 31-44
TA ch. 4 "How animals learn" 45-53
TA ch. 5 "Why animals learn better in social groups." 54-63
TA ch. 6 Imitative behaviour of animals 64-79
Video: "Among the wild chimpanzees" Jane
Goodall,
EHE (development of modern human abilities)323-360, 371
Rumbaugh, D. M. (1990). Comparative psychology and the Great Apes: Their
competence in learning, language, and numbers. The Psychological Record,
40, 15-39. [125-137]
Chevalier-Skolnikoff, S. (1977). A Piagetian model for describing and
comparing socialization in monkey, ape, and human infants. [136-166]
EHE (diet) 41-74; 284-286; 443
Milton, K. (1988). Foraging behaviour and the evolution of primate
intelligence. [167-177]
TA ch. 12 "Food for thought"
TA Ch. 7 Understanding how things work 83-99
TA ch. 8 Understanding minds