Methods in animal behaviour research

Aim

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• assess and reflect on mechanisms, functions, phylogeny, and ontogeny of behavioural systems in animals.
• search, evaluate, discuss and compile primary and secondary research literature in the field, and apply methods and theories in new contexts, with a societal and ethical perspective.
• formulate relevant scientific hypotheses about behavioural research questions; plan,design, and conduct quantitative studies to test the hypotheses, as well as analyse andinterpret the obtained data.

Content

Behavior is the primary means by which an animal interacts with and adapts to its physical and social environment. Understanding animal behaviour is therefore an important component in a wide range of research fields, including conservation biology, evolutionary biology, movement ecology, genomics, animal welfare, and animal physiology. This course will focus on behavioural theory combined with a substantial practical part in which different methods used to quantify behaviour will be implemented to give students transferable skills for later master thesis work.

The course covers

• history and background of the field of animal behaviour
• behavioral evolutionand animal domestication
• personality theory
• motivation, behavioral endocrinology and animal welfare
• behavior and conservation
• discussion and assessment of scientific papers
• theory, training, and application of different methods used to quantify behaviour
• design of behavioural experiments, as well as analysis and presentation of behavioural data

Methodology for statistics and data visualization is taught and used. Students will use R to perform basic statistics and comparative tests.