Animal Psychology Advanced Diploma

From the showing of a peacock’s tail feathers to the waggle dance of a honey bee, and from the scruff reflex in dogs to the migration of sparrows, this course examines, in depth, the development of animal behaviour.

Just as with bodily characteristics, so with behavioural ones we can get an idea of evolutionary history by comparing traits among groups of related species. An animal’s genetic makeup and the environment in which it grows up both contribute to the final behaviour it exhibits, and it is the way in which these interact that contributes to the fascinating diversity of life we see in the world around us.

Advanced animal psychology presents us with a great variety of subject matter – at one end there is the study on a cellular level, and at the other end the study of animal groups. Why does an animal have a nervous system with its own particular sensory attributes, and why would an animal have two sets of DNA?

This course examines the events, genetic or environmental, which shape the development of a wide range of animals, birds and insects, making them the unique and fascinating species we see around us. For some of us it is enough to watch in wonderment, but others of us want to be able to understand the remarkable things we see unfolding.

This course covers such topics as:

Module 1:

• Ethology
• The Nervous System
• Reflexes
• Feedback Control
• The Study of Behaviour
• The Scruff Reflex

Module 2:

• Instinct
• Genetics
• Early Experiences
• Why Do Animals Play?
• Canine Play Bows

Module 3:

• Imprinting
• Learning

Module 4:

• Communication
• Visual Communication
• Facial Expression
• Auditory Communication (Vocal and Non-Vocal)
• Touch Communication
• Olfactory Communication
• The Purpose of Animal Communication

Module 5:

• Human to Animal Communication
• Animal Linguistics
• The Similarities and Differences Between Animal and Human Communication

Module 6:

• Consensus Decision Making
• Consensus in Practice
• Consensus Versus Combined Decisions
• Who Makes the Decision?
• What are the Mechanisms?
• What are the Functions of the Decision Making Process?
• Ignorance and Democracy

Module 7:

• Predators and Prey
• Defense Mechanisms
• Selective Predation
• Predator-Prey Evolution
• Predation and Horse Psychology
• The Mathematics of Predation

Module 8:

• Charles Darwin
• Spindle Neurons
• Mirror Neurons
• Emotions