PSYCH 361Evolutionary Psychology
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Arts
- Subject
- Psychology
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
The objective of the course is to consider human and animal behaviour from a Darwinian evolutionary perspective. Topics will include habitat selection and predator avoidance, sexual selection and mating systems, social behaviour, aggression, and evolutionary perspectives in perception and cognition.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Reviewed on UW Flow
89% liked it20% easy65% useful
From 9 ratings and 3 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
CS student fulfilling their depth requirement.
Took it with Paul Weher. Interesting content. Good prof. Brutal grading scheme. We had 4 "mid"terms worth 25% each, with around a 60-70% class average. The tests had MCQs, fill-in-the-blanks and short/long answer questions. They were not easy. It took me about 2 days of solid studying to get an 80% in them (after bombing the first one). Ngl tho, I should mention I didn't usually go to class, but they were very early in my defence.
Don't assume this is a bird course, especially if you don't like reading. The test had questions from the textbook and slides.
The content itself is very interesting. EQ gets a lot of flack from people, but the way…Jul 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
I found this course to be really interesting, and it gave me some competing perspectives in the field of psychology. Since many social psychology and evolutionary psychology theories have opposing views, this course really helped me consider alternative views and new ways to try to falsify theories in the future. Regarding the assessments, there were two tests and three assignments. The course covered a lot of content in both the lectures and the textbook. If you want to do well, you have to go to the lectures. You also need to read the textbook, but I recommend looking through the chapter after the lecture and finding the hypotheses and main studies that weren't mentioned in class to save…
May 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Very interesting content. I found myself discussing content with my family and it provoked some amazing discussions. You can easily apply this knowledge to your everyday life. Marking is quite fair. The worth of each assignments aligns with how much work it demands. There are two term tests, in which you HAVE to study. Lots of short answers but you'll be fine as long as you study and understand content well. Try not to snooze during lectures or you'll lose important information. The multiple choice is a bit trickier in the tests and usually pulled from textbook chapters. Lots of content to study but doable since both the lectures/chapters overlaps. If you're interested in the content,…
Mar 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
8 posts and comments in 8 threads mention PSYCH 361, April 2016 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Spring 2024
how do i become a better test taker 50 points, 30 comments
“4 tests worth 25% each in courses are my worst nightmare. I am not a test taker and I always find myself blanking out. …”
u/pompeek69: “Damn. Psych 361 fucked up you too eh. I feel exactly the same as you. I don't know how I'll prepare for the next midterm.”
Winter 2022
Psych 361 2 points, 0 comments
u/girlthatneedshelp99: “Hey! Has anyone taken psych 361 in the past? The breakdown is 4 tests multiple choice and short answers. I was wondering if anyone has any advice to do well in that class?”
Winter 2020
PSYCH 361 with Jennifer Stolz? 2 points, 5 comments
Winter 2019
How to deal with homophobic parents? 4 points, 59 comments
“There’s a lot of people here with immigrant parents, so I’m wondering if any of you have any advice. I’m into guys and girls (I think I’m bi or pan but I don’t like labels) and I’m out to a few close …”
[deleted]: “Bisexuality for women is a phase 99.9999% of the time until they find a legitimate relationship with a man. So listen to your based parents and don't be brainwashed by gays.”
u/maket000: “… pretty reductionist and often tenuous, at least at a high-level you'd get in something like PSYCH 361, I probably should read some more evo-psych studies to get a more accurate grasp of the approach.”
Got a mass email from with a very specific copy/pasted situation from the last one. We didn't even have class yesterday. 31 points, 15 comments
u/PutNameHere: “Seems like it's not just CLAS 104, got the exact same email as the second one for Psych 361”
Winter 2018
PSYCH 361 W/ Jenn Stolz 4 points, 2 comments
u/UW_ECON: “Did anyone take PSYCH 361/Evolutionary Psychology with Jenn Stolz? How is it in terms of difficulty and required work.”
Fall 2017
Easiest 300 PSYCH course? 2 points, 3 comments
u/sdfjkllkjfds1: “… PSYCH 340 (Training and Development) PSYCH 356 (Personality) PSYCH 357 (Psychology of Good) PSYCH 361 (Evolutionary Psychology) PSYCH 372 (Environmental Psychology)”
Winter 2016
Is there any courses about brain studies, neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology ? 0 points, 2 comments
“I am a 1A CS student and I am deciding which courses to take ?”
u/AnIncredibleMetric: “… PSYCH 361 Evolutionary Psych (Not as much focus on Computational stuff though so this one might not be ideal) PSYCH 420 Introduction to Computational Neuroscience. …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
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