Animal Cognition
CPDT-KA CEUs: 1.5
IAABC CEUs: 1.5
$35.00
Cognition includes the mental capacities of reasoning, problem solving, consciousness, and language, in other words, all of the mental processes we usually think of as uniquely human. This course will address how animal cognition is characterized in modern science. We will ask what the known mental capacities of other animals include, and whether or not they share any similarities with human cognition. This course provides an overview of the history and theory of the field, methodological challenges facing those who study animal cognition (you can’t just ask a dog, “so, what exactly is going on in that pretty head of yours?”), and some recent findings in the areas of non-human primate, dolphin and canine cognition.
Ashlynn d’Harcourt, Ph.D.
Ashlynn earned her doctorate in Cognitive Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, where she spent six years studying properties of human language. During this time, she developed an interest in other animal communications systems as well. She has been teaching courses on human cognition at various universities, including Texas State University and more recently the University of California at Santa Cruz and Berkeley extension in the Bay area for the past few years.
She also has a passion for working with animals in applied settings. During her studies, Ashlynn frequently traveled back home to her mother’s stables and therapeutic horseback riding center, All Star Equestrian Foundation (www.allstarfoundation.org/), where she volunteered in classes, received horse handling training, and found her dog, Augustus “Gus” McCray, a stray who wandered into the stables. Gus later served as the inspiration for Ashlynn to continue the humane approach to animal training she learned at All Star to work with dogs.
Ashlynn looks forward to discussing the topics in psychology with the companion animal training community. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, Charles, and their dog, Gus.
Refund Policy: The course fee will be refunded, in its entirety, so long as the enrollee requests a refund in writing no later than the 14th day after the course is purchased. Alternatively, the enrollee may request an exchange or credit toward a different course, instead of a refund.
