eiu 4118 Spring 2007
Professor: Stephen Mullin Internet:
<sjmullin@eiu.edu>
Office: LS1114; tel: x6234 Mailbox
in departmental office (LS2070)
Office Hours: Mon. & Wedn. 1200 – 1330 h;
or, by appointment.
Synopsis – This
course presents an investigation info the biological origins of certain forms
of animal behavior. Discussions of
reproductive behavior will be used as the basis for studying how natural
selection determines some human behavioral patterns such as mate choice,
competition, and deception. The
primary objective is to introduce students to how evolutionary processes have
shaped patterns of social behavior – especially sexual behavior.
Prerequisites – A
minimum of 75 credit hours completed in any major outside the sciences.
Course
Materials – I will provide some handouts prior to class meetings,
each being appropriate to the topic for discussion.
¥
A Òcourse readerÓ should be purchased from the BSGSA (room LS1120)
during the 1st week of classes.
Reserve Materials – Several resources will be
available to help you with information presented throughout the course. Booth Library has several of these
holdings, but I will also have a few available for two-hour check out during my
office hours.
Alcock,
J. 1989. Animal Behavior:
An Evolutionary Approach, 4th ed. Sinauer & Assoc., Sunderland, Mass. 596 pp.
Buss,
D.M. 2003. The Evolution
of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating, 2nd ed.. Basic Books, New York. 320 pp.
Hyde, J.S.,
and J.D. DeLamater. 1997. Understanding Human Sexuality, 6th
ed. McGraw-Hill Co., New
York. 685 pp.
Kalat,
J.W. 2001. Biological Psychology, 7th
ed. Wadsworth-Thomson Learning,
London. 551 pp.
Attendance
á
With the exception of school
holidays, lecture sections will meet from 1100-1150 h on Mon., Wedn. &
Fri.; please avoid the embarrassment of arriving late.
á
A portion of your grade for
this course is based on participation in discussions (see below). Therefore, I will record any absences
throughout the semester. If you miss
more than 4 class meetings, you will automatically be given an ÒFÓ grade for
the course. Note that Òpop essaysÓ
might be given during any particular class meeting – these cannot be made
up if you are absent for any reason.
á
I would like to discourage
distractions during our meeting times.
Therefore, any student will be penalized ten (10) points if any
electronic device (e.g., cell phone,
pager, iPod, etc.) emits any audible
noise during any class meeting.
Term Project
This course satisfies your senior seminar requirement because
of two components: (a) writing-intensive; and, (b) speaking across the
curriculum. You will choose the
topic for your project, and all topics must be approved by me. Along with the rest of the class, I
will expect you to have researched your topic thoroughly – you should not
only present information pertinent to the topic, but also be prepared to
address questions from the rest of the class. The following components are
included in the overall project:
Discussion Session (20 points)
You
will each lead a discussion session that focuses on a single paper pertaining
to your project topic. All
students will be expected to have read the paper, but you should be prepared to
prompt discussion based on your own research and thorough examination of the
paper.
Research Paper (75 points)
Your
paper will be a complete review of some current evolutionary aspect of human
behavior &/or culture. Your
overview will synthesize what is known about that topic based on your
examination of the hypotheses tested, data presentation, and discussion by the
researchers. This will be the
paper that is graded and returned to you for revision and re-grading –
use it as part of your 4th year EWP. [Further details will follow.].
Topic Presentation (40 points)
You
will each give a PowerPoint presentation (12-20 min) that summarizes the
research that you completed for your paper. Your lecture should provide an introduction to your topic, a
complete discussion of current findings, and a synthesis that includes your
conclusions and suggestions for future work on this topic. [Further details will follow.].
Exam – There will be
a take-home final exam that will be due during the final exam period scheduled
for this course. I will evaluate
your performance on this exam in a manner similar to that in which I evaluate
your project paper.
Proper
English counts! One point will be deducted from your point total for every 5
spelling/grammatical errors on any written assignment or exam.
Grading – You will be
evaluated on the basis of your term project, the pop essays, the final, and
participation during the discussion periods throughout the semester. Participation grades will be a function
of your contributions to in-class discussions as well as any questions asked
during presentations given by other students.
Tentative
grading scheme
Term
Project
Discussion session 20
points
Paper (draft = 25; final = 50) 75
Presentation 40
Participation 40
Take-home
Final 35
Misc. (assignments, pop essays, etc.) 30
TOTAL 240
points
Thus, your awarded grade for the
class will be determined on a 240-point scale. I will follow the standard 10-%age point scale (90-100 % =
ÔAÕ, 80-89 % = ÔBÕ, etc.).
Academic Integrity –
I expect that you will never passively or actively cheat on any of my
assignments, or those administered by your other professors. Any documented incidence of cheating or
plagiarism will result in a notification to the Judicial Affairs Office, and an
ÒFÓ grade in the entire course.
Please feel free to speak with me, or consult your Student Handbook, if
you have any questions concerning this matter.
Disabled
Students should contact the Office of Disability Services (9th
St.Hall 2002; x6583) for any arrangements that need to be made in order to
ensure that you get the most out of this course. Within reason, I am willing to make whatever accommodations
are necessary to facilitate your learning of this material.
–––––
Assignment #1: (5 points; due 12 Jan.)
Send me an email message containing the following information, each item (un-numbered) on a new line of text:
your name as you wish to be addressed
last 4 digits of your SSN#
á
a version
of the following statement:
"Yes/No you may/may not post my grade by special
code."
[If
"yes," then provide 6-digit code -- you may use any sequence of
numbers or letters].
á
your phone
#
á
a version
of the following statement:
"Yes/No you may/may not release my phone number to the
rest of the class."
á
your class
standing
á
your major
––––––
Researching a term project topic? Here are some pointersÉ.
á
Suggested keywords for literature searches = Ôhuman sociobiology,Õ Ôhuman
evolutionary psychology,Õ Ôhuman ethology,Õ etc.
á
Be certain to utilize papers that (a) test hypotheses;
and, (b) have data presented in tables &/or figures (graphs).
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Feel free to stop by and examine some of the paper that
I have in my library (limited selection).
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Your topic must be approved by me before you moderate
your discussion session.
á
First come, first served!
eiu 4118 Spring 2007
Course
Schedule (tentative)
Week Topic Articles
1
Introduction; Biology = the science of life
Playing the evolutionary game
2
Why you care about those closest to you Wallace
Ch.1
The
basics of animal behavior.
3
The reproductive imperative Wallace
Ch.2
The
genetics of morality Wallace
Ch.3
4
Sexual Selection Wallace
Ch.4
WhatÕs
on your mind? Wallace
Ch.5
5
The IQ Quagmire Wallace
Ch.6
6
Why growing old is good Wallace
Ch.7
The
myth of altruism Wallace
Ch.8
7
Humans as agents of change Wallace
Ch. 9
Male
sexual jealousy Daly
et al. 1982
8
Child management Daly
& Wilson 1982, Lightcap et al. 1982
9
Morphology & timing in mate selection Low et al. 1987, Fisher 1987, Barber 1995
SPRING
BREAK
10 Sexual
deception Diamond
1989, Hutchison 1990
Battles
amongst the sexes Small
1991, Gorman 1992
11 Battles for the embryos Betzig
& Lombardo 1992
Strategies
of mate selection Buss
1994, Cowley 1995
12 Student
project presentations (+ project papers due on 2 April – 1st draft)
13 Student
project presentations
14 Student
project presentations (+ project papers returned by 18 Apr.)
15 Summary
Discussion (+ project papers due on 25 April – final draft)
Course
evaluation
Final Exam due at 1015 h on Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Student-led discussion
sessions will occur sporadically starting in week 5. Stay tuned for a sign-up sheet on which youÕll be able to
sign up for a particular class meeting