300352 VO Animal Social Cognition (2009W)

This course aims at sophisticated forms of animal cognition that are mostly expressed in the social context and commonly labeled as "intelligence". Skills such as tool use, imitation, deception, referential communication and culture are not restricted to humans but can be found, to some extent, in non-human animals. Still, same problems may be solved with different cognitive mechansims. Incorporating the evolutionary perspective into a psychological-experimental approach has let to a boost of improvements both in methodology and in the interpretation of "intelligent" behaviour of animals in general. I here outline recent developments in the study of animal social cognition, explicating current research, including our own on ravens, keas and marmosets.