Learning objectives
1. A good understanding of the ethological approach to behavioral studies and of genetic, epigenetic, hormonal and neurochemical basis of behavior in an evolutionary perspective as well as of their implications for clinical and psychological practice.
2. Capability to integrate the different levels of causal and functional analysis of behavior and to apply a scientific observational method to behavioural analysis.
3.. The ability to fully understand and criticize scientific and technical literature in the field of behavioral biology and to develop critical reasoning of behavioural data and their interpretations.
4. To develop their ability to present scientific work in a clear and concise manner and to effectively communicate scientific
advances in the field of behavioural analysis to a non-specialist or to a professional audience as well as their ethical and social implications.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of Biology, genetics and neurosciences
Course unit content
The course of is an integrated course comprising 2 modules: Biological Bases of Behavior and Evolutionary Psychobiology
Full programme
Evolutionary Psicobiology (Prof. Davide Ponzi, 3 cfu)
1. Evolution, Natural selection, sexual selection and life history theory: concepts
2. Evolutionary psychobiology of aggression: Functions and mechanisms
Neurobiology of aggression
Behavioral endocrinology of aggression
Human evolution, culutre and aggressive behavior
3. Evolutionary psychobiology of psychosocial stress
Bibliography
R. Wrangham. The goodness paradox.
scietific articles of relevance for the course topic
Teaching methods
Lectures will be held on-site in compliance with safety standards, provided that further instructions on the ongoing health emergency are not implemented. Supporting material will be available on the specific, student-reserved platform (Elly) and will include slide presentations, audio-video aids or video-recording of the lectures.
Assessment methods and criteria
A final comprehensive exam for all the integrated course will be written with 32 multiple choice questions (0,5 for each correct answer) and 4 open questions (scored 0-4; 0= no answer; 1= very partial answer answer; 2= psrtial answer; 3= correct answer with inaccuracies; 4 correct answer with appropriate language).
Exam consists of a written test composed by multiple choice and free-answer questions, followed by an oral exam. In case of the persistence of the health emergency, the exams will be conducted remotely, as
structured written test folllowed by an oral exam.(by Teams and Elly).
The written test consists of 50 multiple choice, short-answer or T-F questions, and free-answers tests based on the course contents (reference texts + documents uploaded to Elly during the course). There is no penalty for incorrect answers. The final mark will correspond to the arithmetic average of the assessments obtained in the written test.
In this case the final score is calculated on the basis of the test and the oral exam scores.
Students with SLD / BSE must first contact Le Eli-che: support for students with disabilities, D.S.A., B.E.S. (https://sea.unipr.it/it/servizi/le-eli-che-supporto-studenti-con-disabilita-dsa-bes)
Other information
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