Psychology 3228B 650

Evolution and Psychology: The Science of Human Nature

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

 

WESTERN UNIVERSITY 

LONDON               CANADA 

Department of Psychology 

2021 – 2022 

 

Psychology 3228B    Section 650 

Evolution and Psychology: The Science of Human Nature 

  

1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION 
  

A survey of evolutionary approaches to the study of human behavior, including evolutionary psychology. 

 

Antirequisite(s): Psychology 3229A/B. 

 

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. If you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course. 

 

Prerequisite(s): A mark of at least 60% in 1.0 credits of Psychology at the 1000 level or Biology 1001A and registration in third or fourth year.  

 

3 lecture/discussion hours. 

 

Course Weight: 0.50 

 

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites. 

 
2.0  COURSE INFORMATION 
 

Instructor:                                                                    Madeleine Brodbeck 

Office:                                                                          SSC 7440 

Office Hours:                                                               By appointment via Zoom 

Email:                                                                           mbrodbec@uwo.ca 

Teaching Assistant:                                                     TBA

Time and Location of Classes:                                     Online Asynchronous Teaching 

   

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

 

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca or 519-661-2147.

 

 

3.0  TEXTBOOK 
 

Workman and Reader (2021) Evolutionary Psychology (4th Ed.) Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-1108716468

 

This text is required for the course. The third edition is also acceptable. It is available at the Campus Bookstore or from other resellers.  

 

4.0  COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES 
 

This course will examine how the process of biological evolution has shaped human behaviour. The primary objective will be to impart a deep understanding of how evolutionary processes have impacted human behaviour. This will involve distinguishing between ultimate and proximate levels of analyses and avoiding superficial rejection or acceptance of evolutionary explanations of human psychology. Particular attention will be paid to rejecting fallacious thinking about evolution, such as genetic determinism, and to rejecting historical racist approaches. 

 

                        4.1       STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

 

Learning Outcome  

Learning Activity  

Assessment 

1.        identify and describe key concepts in evolutionary theory including natural selection, sexual selection, inclusive fitness theory, life history theory, and parental investment theory  

1.        identify major historical milestones in evolutionary thought and its application to understanding human behaviour  

 

Lectures 

Text readings 

Exams and quizzes 

1.       detect common fallacies that confuse our understanding of human nature  
 

1.       classify explanations for behaviour by their level of analysis  
 

1.       critique news articles covering evolutionary psychology or create media covering evolutionary psychology

 

Readings, Lecture & Assignment 

Assignment

  

5.0  EVALUATION 

  The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.

 

Evaluation in this course will be based on the following:  

 

Weekly Online Quizzes (Best 8 of 11)                                   12% (1.5 % each)  

Assignment                                                                            18%

Midterm Exam (multiple choice)                                           30%  

Final Exam (multiple choice)                                                 40%  

 

Weekly quizzes will consist of 5 multiple-choice questions that are based strictly off the readings in advance of the lecture for that week. Quizzes will be due at the end of each week (Fridays at 11:55pm). There is a strict policy that quizzes are not accepted after the due date and will be given a grade of zero. There are no make-ups for missed quizzes. Only the best 8 of 11 will count towards your final grade. Quizzes are open-book, 30 minutes in duration, and are submitted through OWL. You can complete the quizzes with the third or fourth edition of the textbook.  

 

You will have a choice between (at least) two options/approaches for the assignment. One version of the assignment will include a written response (500-700 words). The other option will be a media creation piece (video, audio, blog, etc.). Information about the assignment will be posted on OWL and assignments will be submitted through OWL.

 

The midterm and final exam will be based on both lecture material and assigned readings. The midterm and final exams will include multiple choice/true-false/fill-in-the-blank questions. The final will focus primarily on material covered in the second half of the course. Although the final is not cumulative, foundational concepts from the first half of the course do carry-over to the second half of the course. 

  

5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK 
 

Late assignments without discussion with the instructor will be penalized with a 5% per day deduction. An extension to an assignment deadline will be provided to students with an academic accommodation or consideration. Quizzes do not have makeup times, as only the best 8 of 11 quizzes will be included in the final grade, and each quiz will have a week-long window to complete at your own pace.

 

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty. 

 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:

 

70%     1000-level to 2099-level courses

72%     2100-2999-level courses

75%     3000-level courses

80%     4000-level courses

 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf

 

A+        90-100              One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level

A          80-89               Superior work that is clearly above average

B          70-79               Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory

C          60-69               Competent work, meeting requirements

D          50-59               Fair work, minimally acceptable

F          below 50           Fail

 

Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.

 

Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.

 

 

6.0  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE 

 

Weekly quizzes  

Due each Friday (11:55 pm), posted on OWL 

Assignment 

March 8th 11:55 PM  

Midterm Examination  

February 15th (TBA)

Final Examination  

Scheduled during final exam period (April 13th-30th)  

  

7.0  CLASS SCHEDULE 

All course material will be available weekly via the OWL site.

Tentative Schedule subject to revision.

Date  

Topic  

Assignments & Quizzes 

09-Jan 

Introduction to Evolution  

Quiz 1 

16-Jan 

Human Origins, Human Evolution 

Race 

Quiz 2  

23-Jan 

Sexual Selection & Human Mate Choice

Quiz 3 

30-Jan 

Social & Romantic Relationships

Quiz 4 

06-Feb 

Development 

Quiz 5 

13-Feb 

Midterm Exam Week

 Midterm: February 15th

20-Feb 

Reading Week

27-Feb 

Altruism, Kinship and Aggression 

Quiz 6

06-Mar 

Cognition, Memory, and Perception 

Quiz 7

Assignment:

Due March 8th 11:55 PM  

13-Mar 

Language and Communication  

Quiz 8 

20-Mar 

Psychopathology 

Darwinian Medicine 

Quiz 9

27-Mar 

Emotion, Personality, and Individual Differences  

Quiz 10 

03-April

Culture 

Biogeography and Human History 

Quiz 11 

 

  

8.0  Land Acknowledgement 
 
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.  

With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service 

9.0  STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES 

 
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf  

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offences. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).  

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.  

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.  

Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University. 

10.0      POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE 
 
This course will not be using proctor track or any other exam proctoring software.  
 

When examinations and tests cannot be given in person (e.g., in courses coded as Distance Studies; in the event of a lockdown order), they may be conducted using either a monitoring platform such as Zoom or a remote proctoring service, such as Proctorio. If Zoom is used for exam invigilation, you will be required to keep your camera on for the entire session, hold up your student card for identification purposes, and share your screen with the invigilator if asked to do so at any time during the exam. The exam session using Zoom will not be recorded.* 

If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf  

* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us   

  

11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES 

 
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

 

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

  1. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
  2. For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.

 

https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html

 

Students seeking academic consideration:

o   are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work; 

o   must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.

 

  

13.0      STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE 
 

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette: 

  • please “arrive” to class on time 
  • please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet) 
  • please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material 
  • to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise 
  • In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak 
  • In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable 
  • Unless invited by your instructor, do notshare your screen in the meeting 

  

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following: 

  • If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question. 
  • Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking. 
  • Self-identify when speaking. 
  • Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise). 

  

General considerations of “netiquette”: 

  • Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course. 
  • Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing. 
  • Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate. 
  • Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately. 

  

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct. 

14.0 OTHER INFORMATION 

Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca  

Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca 

 

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:  

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct 

- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations 

- Policy on Attendance 

- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines 

- Policy for Assignments 

- Short Absences 

- Extended Absences 

- Documentation 

- Academic Concerns 

- 2021-2022 Calendar References 

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf 

Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca). 

  

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent. 

  

Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.