Cooperation and the Environment: Developmental and Evolutionary Origins module (PY41004)

"Cooperation and the Environment: Developmental and Evolutionary Origins" is about understanding how cooperative behaviour has evolved and developed, particularly in relation to environmental challenges and resource management, and how this understanding can inform efforts to maintain ecological balance and address environmental issues.

This module will cover human cooperation and the cooperative challenges we face when trying to sustain environmental resources. The origins of human cooperation are examined from developmental, cross-cultural, and evolutionary perspectives.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• gain a detailed understanding of the theoretical issues within the field of resource cooperation
• discuss approaches in the field of comparative psychology and what findings from this field can tell us about our innate and learned abilities to sustain resources
• discuss the evolution of social cognitive skills by comparing our own abilities with those of our closest living relatives, i.e. chimpanzees
• discuss cultural variability and the development of cooperation over the human lifespan
• critically evaluate whether small-scale cooperation can scale up to global cooperation
• discuss a set of applied methodologies used to promote environmental cooperation

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• obtain an understanding of cooperative variation across human development, cultures, and other species
• read and critically evaluate relevant research and contrast competing theories
• express consistent arguments supported by evidence

Assignments / assessment

• critical review 1 (20%)
• critical review 2 (20%)
• unseen written exam (60%)

Teaching methods / timetable

• lectures
• seminar discussions
• independent reading