Module PSYC3931: Evolution, Culture and Behaviour

Department: Psychology

PSYC3931: Evolution, Culture and Behaviour

Prerequisites

• 60 credits from Level 2 Psychology

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To present evolutionary theory as it is applied to human behaviour and culture, and to demonstrate how the theory and attendant research can contribute to the scientific understanding of culture and behaviour.

Content

• This module examines the application of cultural and biological evolutionary principles to the understanding of human and nonhuman primate behaviour.
• It will introduce biological evolution with a focus on natural and sexual selection and the different forms of evolutionary behavioural sciences.
• It will also examine cultural evolution including cumulative culture and social learning, and cross-cultural methods in Psychology and Anthropology.
• It will address a number of psychological and behavioural phenomena, which will vary from year to year but are likely to include mate choice, parental care, kin selection, same-sex competition, behavioural ecology, human life histories, brain evolution, religion and ritual, cultural evolution, comparative primate psychology.
• The module will also cover related conceptual and historical issues in psychology and related fields in biology and anthropology.

Learning Outcomes

• Detailed knowledge of evolutionary approaches to human behaviour and that of other primates, including current theory and evidence.
• Understanding of how evolutionary approaches are represented in popular culture.

• Ability to review critically and consolidate understanding of a coherent body of psychological knowledge and apply it appropriately.
• Science communication for evolutionary behavioural sciences.

• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Good IT skills in word processing.
• Ability to work independently in scholarship and research within broad guidelines.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Students' acquisition of detailed knowledge will be facilitated by lectures, within-lecture interactive activities like discussions and small group work, audio-visual materials, discussions, and detailed reading lists.
• These modes of teaching provide students with detailed knowledge of the key theories and the skills needed to evaluate different theoretical positions in light of current evidence.
• The summative exam and essay will assess students' detailed subject knowledge.
• The use of group discussions / small group work will ensure that students are exposed to a range of different theoretical positions and encouraged to understand their inter-relations.
• Lectures, discussions, and small group work will also give students the opportunity to interpret and evaluate the significance of empirical work.
• The summative assignment will assess students' detailed subject knowledge, ability to identify high quality evidence, and public communication skills.
• The essay component in the exam will assess student's ability to synthesise, summarise, critically engage with, and communicate current scientific theories and evidence.
• The multiple-choice component in the exam will assess students' detailed knowledge of core evolutionary and cultural principles.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.