COGS 220 Animal Cognition

Are earthworms capable of making decisions? How do ants navigate their environment? Do dogs have an understanding of fairness? Questions about the mental states and processes possessed by non-human animals present particular problems of study: how do we determine whether, and to what extent, animals possess such abilities? This course will study the evidence for cognitive states and processes in non-human animals, focusing on careful and critical attention to the methods and techniques used to gather that evidence and on the considerations that go into interpreting that evidence.