Spring 2027

Animal Behavior

Examines evolutionary and physiological mechanisms of animal behavior, covering aggressive, reproductive, communicative, social behaviors, and behavioral development.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 8

Past student reviews · Catherine Marler

The pace was fast with a lot of content, requiring diligent note-taking and study. Exams were specific and difficult, though the professor tried to ensure grades did not depend solely on them.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Develop hypotheses and test predictions about animal behavior.

  • Describe how animal behavior evolves through natural and sexual selection.

  • Explain functions of cultural transmission.

  • Summarize neural, hormonal and genetic control of animal behavior.

  • Explain why kin may be treated differently in animal groups.

  • Describe functions of communication, play, aggressive and affiliative behaviors between animals.

  • Describe how animal behavior is important for conservation.

  • Explain why individuals express different personalities.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PSYCH 202, (ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102),ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151, or (BIOCORE 381 and 382)

PSYCH 449 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

CATHERINE MARLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

REBECCA ADDINGTON is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Catherine Marler

Professor Marler’s lectures were frequently described as interesting and well-supported by examples, with students noting they learned a lot about evolutionary psychology and ecology.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.25 GPA, 58.1% A/AB (n=172 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.24 GPA, 54.4% A/AB (n=193 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.35 GPA, 69.9% A/AB (n=153 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Catherine Marler

The pace was fast with a lot of content, requiring diligent note-taking and study. Exams were specific and difficult, though the professor tried to ensure grades did not depend solely on them.

Past student reviews · Catherine Marler

Students appreciated that Dr. Marler clarified confusion and cared about understanding, and found tests fair if they attended lecture. The textbook was not required.

Topics

  • Evolutionary and physiological mechanisms of animal behavior.
  • Aggressive, reproductive, communicative, and social behaviors.
  • Behavioral development.
  • Functions of cultural transmission.
  • Kin treatment differences in animal groups.
  • Individual personality expression.

Skills

  • Developing hypotheses and testing predictions regarding animal behavior.
  • Describing the evolution of animal behavior via natural and sexual selection.
  • Summarizing the neural, hormonal, and genetic controls of behavior.
  • Applying knowledge of animal behavior to conservation contexts.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1316 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "4ce618d0694fe35afedd97d68e04b0afcb3d21c71560b549b8fff18a6108712f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}