Comparative cognition

The course aims to provide students with an overview of the field of comparative cognition and a presentation of its concepts and methods. Starting from a brief presentation of the field, students will be faced with a variety of issues such as communication, sociality, cognitive mechanisms and metacognition. Each class will be divided into two parts: the first half of the class (1h) will consist in a lecture by an expert of the field, and the second part will consist in discussions around a given study (aka “journal club”), led by two students. Additionally, students will present a mini-project (written report or oral presentation) on a subject of their choice due by the end of the semester, that can take the form of a literature review or research protocol. The aim of such a broad overview, combined with the homework, is for students to become aware of the main research questions addressed by the field, and to be able to understand and critically discuss studies in comparative cognition.