Reaction paper #10
Due November 18 at the beginning of class

“…the question no longer seems to be whether animals are able to produce and respond to semantic signals; rather it has become one of what kinds of cognitive structures support this ability….” (Zuberbuhler et al., 1999, p. 33).

On the basis on material in all three of this week’s readings, what would you conclude about the cognitive structures supporting animal vocal signaling and why?

Optional extra:  Check out Chris Evans’s website at Macquarie University for videos of his experiments with chickens.

REMINDER

Essay proposals are also due by the 18th; guidelines for the talks will be handed out in class and people will be asked to sign up for a slot to present, including some on the 25th, so please be in class if at all possible.

 

Reaction paper #9
Due November 11 at the beginning of class

The topic: Create your own this time, i.e. identify and comment on any theme, discovery, experiment etc, in this week’s readings that seems to you particularly interesting and/or important. As far as possible you should discuss material from at least several or even all of the readings.

The Galef (2004) article: it's now available through the library so I will not be providing it.

 

 

Save a few trees:  No cover page please.

General guidelines for assignments: To make best use of your 400 - 500 words, try to avoid directly restating the question. Cut straight to your ideas about the answer. In general, words are better used to analyze or evaluate what the readings say than to summarize them, although often a very brief summary may be appropriate to show you know what the writers did say. Marks will be based on clear and precise writing conveying that you understood what was in the articles and thought about it in an interesting way. Evidence that you read all the relevant articles is also taken into account.