Interim 2004, Hawaii

Location: The Dolphin Institute/ Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory, Honolulu, Hawaii

Professor: Uta Wolfe, Psychology (wolfeu@stolaf.edu, 646-3138)

Major Credit: Psychology, Biology (as elective), Neuroscience

Prerequisites: Psych 125 or Bio 125, and one of the following: Psych 235, 238, 236, 237, 385, 390: Brain and Language; or Bio 243, 247, 385 or
Neuroscience 234

Cost: $3590

Maximum Enrollment:18
 

Course description
This course examines the cognitive and communication capabilities of dolphins. It offers an in-depth, inter-disciplinary view of dolphin cognition and
communication from an ethological, cognitive and neuroscience perspective. Through readings and discussion of background literature and journal articles
and through involvement in research at one of the world's leading research institutes in the field, students will gain an understanding of dolphins' neuronal,
sensory, perceptual and cognitive processes, modes of communication and social patterns. Classes are based to a large part on student presentations and
discussions of the readings. The course's most unique feature is its strong experiential component which consists in involvement in on-going state-of-the-art
research at a leading institute in the field.

All experiments are conducted in a laboratory setting and involve recording behavioral responses of trained animals. While a list of possible research
projects is not available this far in advance, some of the institute's recent projects include studies on:

- dolphins' visual acuity and auditory discrimination

- sensory learning and memory

- interaction between echoic and visual systems

- capability for behavioral and acoustic imitation

- behavioral self-reports

- understanding symbolic reference to objects

- processing of semantic and syntactic information in gestural language.

For a more comprehensive list and a link to the institute's publications please see:

http://www.dolphin-institute.org/our_research/index.htm
 
 

Course Objectives:

1. To gain an understanding of cetacean anatomy, in particular the functional anatomy of dolphins' nervous and sensory systems.

2. To be able to relate the structure of dolphins' sensory systems to their sensory and perceptual abilities and operations, and to compare these processes to
those of other animals.

3. To gain an understanding of dolphins' cognitive capacities and to compare them to those of humans and non-human mammals.

4. To be able to relate dolphins' anatomy and sensory processes to their mode of communication, to compare this mode to that of other species, to discuss
how this communication shapes and serves dolphins' social interactions, and to discuss the question of whether dolphin communication constitutes a
"language".

5. To improve your ability to design, carry out and analyze experiments that probe the cognitive and perceptual capacities of animals, and to communicate your findings both orally and in writing.

You are expected to spend 15-25 hours a week on your research. You will give a formal 20-30 minute class presentation on your findings at the end of the
course and will write a 12-15 page journal-style paper on your research. You will also write between 4-6 short (1-2 page) assignments analyzing and
integrating the class readings.
 

Grading:

Participation 30%

Short assignments 20% (lowest score will be dropped)

Presentations (2) 15%

Final Paper 20%

Final Presentation 15%

Required readings:

Course package with selected journal articles and book chapters. Some of the readings pertaining to the research you will conduct must be completed prior
to departure
 

Topics by week

Week 1 - Cetacean anatomy, physiology, neuroanatomy; functional anatomy of sense organs

Week 2 - Sensory and perceptual processes and capacities of dolphins; interaction between vision and echolocation

Week 3 - Cognitive abilities: self-awareness, behavioral mimicry, symbolic reference, linguistic capacities

Week 4 - Dolphin communication and social patterns