GUIDELINES
FOR TUTORIALS
You should read the tutorial
papers and instructions before coming to the tutorial, and
arrive prepared to discuss the papers or engage in the
tutorial activity. The readings are given below, followed by
the instructions for each tutorial.
ORIGINAL
STUDIES
Tutorial 1 (25, 27
January): Bressler, E.R. &
Balshine, S. 2006. The influence of humor on desirability.
Evol. Human Beh. 27: 29-39.
Tutorial 2 (8, 17
February): Hauser, M.D. 1992. Costs of
deception: Cheaters are punished in rhesus monkeys (Macaca
mulatta). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 89: 12137-12139.
REVIEW ARTICLES
(Tutorial 3 cancelled because
of February storms)
Tutorial 4 (1, 3 March): Amundsen, T. 2000. Why
are female birds ornamented? TREE 15: 149-155.
METHODS IN BEHAVIOURAL
ECOLOGY (readings for these two tutorials are in one pdf here)
Tutorial
5 (22, 24 March): Quantifying behaviour: who, what,
and when to watch.
Tutorial 6 (5, 7 April): Asking questions in behavioural
ecology: from hypotheses to predictions to results.
TUTORIAL
INSTRUCTIONS
Tutorials 1 and 2 (Original
Studies)
Tutorials 1 and 2 will involve
critical evaluations of papers from original studies. Please
get the papers from the links above and
read them before your tutorial. When reading these papers you
should consider the following points (plus anything else you
find interesting) and be ready to discuss them in the
tutorial:
1. Did the author (s) provide
adequate background information that allowed you to assess
where the study fit in the broader context? Did you understand
what they were trying to test and why? Were the goals of the
study clearly stated?
2. Were the hypotheses and
predictions clearly stated? Did they consider alternative
hypotheses?
3. Were all terms defined?
4. Were the methods clearly
explained? Could you replicate the study based on what was
written in this section?
5. Were the experiments well
designed? If not, can you think of a better design? Were there
proper controls?
6. Were the sample sizes and
statistical tests appropriate and were the results robust
(i.e. do you think they will stand up to further study)?
7. Did the conclusions follow from
the results?
Tutorials 3 and 4 (Review
Articles)
Tutorials 3 and 4 will involve
discussions of articles that review an area in behavioural
ecology. You
will be writing a review-style essay, so you may wish to pay
special attention to the discussions in these two tutorials.
The papers are available from the links above.
When reading these papers before the tutorial you should
consider the following points (plus anything else you find
interesting) and be ready to discuss them in the tutorial:
1. Did the author (s) clearly
state the ideas they were reviewing?
2. Did they provide enough
background for the reader to assess the ideas under review?
What was missing?
3. What evidence did they use to
support or refute their arguments? Was the evidence
convincing?
4. Did they provide alternative
hypotheses? If not, can you think of alternative explanations?
5. Did their conclusions follow
from the evidence they provided?
Tutorials 5 and 6 (Methods in
Behavioural Ecology)
In the final two tutorials you
will practice collecting data and testing hypotheses. In
Tutorial 5 you will be introduced to some of the basic
decisions made in behavioural studies -- what to watch, who to
watch, and when to watch. In Tutorial 6 you will get some
practice in the more general issues of how to form testable
hypotheses and predictions. The instructions for these
tutorials are available in the link above.
Please be sure to read them before coming to tutorial.