Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course covers various collective behavioural phenomena seen in animal societies (group setting up and social dynamic evolution, collective movement, anti-predation strategies, synchrony of activities, communication, social learning, cooperation, altruism and collective intelligence). The class is divided into 2 parts analyzing animal collective phenomena from different perspectives: from the mechanisms or proximal causes (partim Delcourt), and from the evolutionary functions or ultimate causes (partim Brotcorne). Thanks to this complementary evolutionary and mechanistic approach, students could analyze and interpret a collective behaviour as a whole.
First Part (F. Brotcorne):
Thematics : Evolutionary theories and complexity degree of animal societies, mechanisms of social life (recognition, cooperation, altruism), mechanisms of social transfert of information and of social learning in animal groups, Animal culture and cultural evolution, theory and tools in social network analysis.
Second part (J. Delcourt):
In this part, the collective mechanisms at the basis of social behaviours will be discussed:
- the development of social groups and the maintening of their cohesion,
- the dynamic processes of group motion,
- the regulation and synchronisation of collective behaviours,
- the role of homogeneity and heterogeneity of group membership,
- the impact of spatial heterogeneity within the group.
Moreover, social cognition is developed, in particular:
- social transmission information (excepted by learning),
- collective decision-making,
- and swarm (collective) intelligence.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
First part (F. Brotcorne):
Discuss the question of animal social behaviour in the context of evolution.
Proceed to the critical examination of recent developments.
Second part (J. Delcourt):
Discuss the thematic of social behaviour from the point of view the proximal causes (interaction mechanisms between individuals, ontogeny of collective behaviours), and be able to connect them with the ultimate causes (function and evolution).
Master the main concepts of the "living in groups" in animals, be able to understand them and recognize them in context. Be able to connect the matter of the cursus and the reading of recent scientific publications, and to develop its critic mind.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
General ethology
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Theoretical lectures
Discussion sessions could be proposed throughout the cursus.
Analysis of recent scientific papers (whether suggested by the lecturer or by the student)
Practical training of social network analysis.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
The course includes two parts:
1) The first part (F. Brotcorne) will take place in October-November 2022.
2) The second part (J. Delcourt) will take place in November-December 2022.
The theoritical courses are organized in 10 sessions of 3 hours (see schedule on CELCAT).
Teaching langage: French
Teaching modes
Face-to-face. Theoretical lectures in class (mainly downtown (bat I1), check the location of the class room on CELCAT). See changes of teaching modes according to heath condition color codes defined by the ULiège. If the health conditions cannot allow the face-to-face lectures, lecture will take place in a virtual class (Teams).
Recommended or required readings
Powerpoint slides provided to the students (available on e-campus) and suggestion of additional scientific papers reading.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam
Additional information:
Yellow/orange code: Written exam face-to-face on both partims of the course and taking place on the same day.
Red code: Oral exam by visioconference (Teams) on both partims of the course and taking place on the same day
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
See section Modes of delivery.
The dates and schedule are available on CELCAT.
Contacts
Fany Brotcorne : 04 366 51 12 (fbrotcorne@uliege.be)
Johann Delcourt : 04 366 50 79 (johann.delcourt@uliege.be)
Pascal Poncin : (P.Poncin@uliege.be)
Association of one or more MOOCs
There is no MOOC associated with this course.