This book tests the critical potential of happiness research to evaluate contemporary high-performance societies. These societies, defined as affluent capitalist societies, emphasize competition and success both institutionally and culturally. Growing affluence improves life in many ways, for a large number of people. We lead longer, safer, and more comfortable lives than previous generations. But we also live faster, and are competition-toughened, like top athletes. As a result, we suspect limits and detect downsides of our high-speed lives. The ubiquitous maximization principle opens up a systematic gateway to the pleasures and pains of contemporary life. Using happiness as a reference point, this book explores the philosophical and empirical limits of the maximization rule. It considers the answer to questions such as: Precisely, why did the idea of (economic) maximization gain so much ground in our Western way of thinking? When, and in which life domains, does maximization work, when does it fail? When do qualities and when do quantities matter? Does maximization yield a different (un)happiness dividend in different species, cultures, and societies? "

______________ 'A very appealing, beyond-the-basic reference.'- Booklist 'Cute illustrations and fascinating facts' - Guardian 'A perfect gift for any cat lover' Reader Review | 5 STARS ______________ Cats are so mysterious. What makes them climb into tiny spaces? Why do they sleep that much? And, most of all, how can we give them a good life? Dr. Yuki Hattori is Japan's leading cat doctor, and to him cats are the most beautiful animals in the world. His advice comes with little illustrations showing exactly what to look for as a cat owner - including charts showing how to interpret their different meows, the direction of their whiskers and the way their tail is pointing! Cats may seem low-maintenance but thoughtfulness about where you put their water, how warm or cool they like to be, what name to choose and how to groom them properly will make a life-changing difference. With understanding, affection and respect, your cat will be more healthy and contented - and you'll feel happier too. 'I bought this book for a friend, but after seeing it I might just buy a stack more' Reader Review | 5 STARS 'Even my dog enjoyed looking at it' Reader Review | 5 STARS

Older aged adults face many adversities over the later life course. This edited volume will address the ways in which seniors bounce back from different types and combinations of adversity - termed "resilience". While research has been accumulating that identifies inherent abilities and external resources needed to adapt and navigate stress-inducing experiences among aging and older adults, gaps remain in understanding the unique elements and processes of resilience. A series of chapters included in this book will address several overarching questions: why do some older individuals/families/communities adapt to adversity better than others; what are modifiable behavioral protective/risk factors related to resilience; and how can we foster resilience at the individual/community level and which approaches show the most promise? The spectrum of aging-related challenges and responses addressed in this book include: mental health; physical/functional health problems; multimorbidity; socio-economic deprivation; social isolation and loneliness; cultural dimensions of loneliness; housing/homelessness problems; and environmental disasters. This book presents cutting-edge science at the conceptual, methodological, empirical and practice levels applied to emerging resilience sub-fields in gerontology. It will also present potential areas of future research, policy and practice linked to these areas. During a period of the most rapid population aging in the US, Canada and many other nations, coupled with heightened global socio-political change, extending our knowledge of resilience will help society to make important adjustments to maximize health and wellness of older individuals. Supporting and enhancing resilience through technological, social and/or community-level advances in geroscience will help those facing adversity to thrive by harnessing, stretching, and leveraging a wide array of potential resources. The promotion of healthier older populations has far-reaching consequences for health care and social/community support systems, both in terms of public health including pandemic response, and the development and implementation of innovations in treatment and practice guidelines.

This book is a contribution to the history of ethology-not a definitive history, but the personal view of a major figure in that story. It is all the more welcome because such a grand theme as ethology calls for a range of perspectives. One reason is the overarching scope of the subject. Two great questions about life that constitute much of biology are "How does it work (structure and function)?" and "How did it get that way (evolu tion and ontogeny)?" Ethology addresses the antecedent of "it. " Of what are we trying to explain the mechanism and development? Surely behav ior, in all its wealth of detail, variation, causation, and control, is the main achievement of animal evolution, the essential consequence of animal structure and function, the raison d' etre of all the rest. Ethology thus spans between and overlaps with the ever-widening circles of ecol ogy over the eons and the ever-narrowing focus of physiology of the neurons. Another reason why the history of ethology needs perspectives is the recency of its acceptance. For such an obviously major aspect of animal biology, it is curious how short a time-less than three decades-has seen the excitement of an active field and a substantial fraternity of work ers, the addition of professors and courses to departments and curricula in biology (still far from universal}, and the normal complement of spe cial journals, symposia, and sessions at congresses."

Insects display a staggering diversity of mating and social behaviours. Studying these systems provides insights into a wide range of evolutionary and behavioural questions, such as the evolution of sex, sexual selection, sexual conflict, and parental care. This edited volume provides an authoritative update of the landmark book in the field, The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems (Thornhill and Alcock, 1983), which had such a huge impact in shaping adaptationist approaches to the study of animal behaviour and influencing the study of the evolution of reproductive behaviour far beyond the taxonomic remit of insects. This accessible new volume brings the empirical and conceptual scope of the original book fully up to date, incorporating the wealth of new knowledge and research of the last 30 years. It explores the evolution of complex forms of sex determination in insects, and the role of sexual selection in shaping the evolution of mating systems. Selection arising via male contest competition and female choice (both before and after copulation) are discussed, as are the roles of parasites and pathogens in mediating the strength of sexual selection, and the role that parental care plays in successful reproduction. The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems is suitable for both graduate students and researchers interested in insect mating systems or behaviour from an evolutionary, genetical, physiological, or ecological perspective. Due to its interdisciplinary and concept-driven approach, it will also be of relevance and use to a broad audience of evolutionary biologists.

For 29 years, Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology has provided cutting-edge literature to behavioral neuroscience research. Honoring the late Alan Epstein, founding co-editor of the series, Volume 16 presents essays in the area of the neurobiology of motivation. Contents include research in ingestive behavior, dopamine and food reward, the effect of insulin in the brain, and mechanisms of thirst and salt appetite.

Information is a core concept in animal communication: individuals routinely produce, acquire, process and store information, which provides the basis for their social life. This book focuses on how animal acoustic signals code information and how this coding can be shaped by various environmental and social constraints. Taking birds and mammals, including humans, as models, the authors explore such topics as communication strategies for "public" and "private" signaling, static and dynamic signaling, the diversity of coded information and the way information is decoded by the receiver. The book appeals to a wide audience, ranging from bioacousticians, ethologists and ecologists to evolutionary biologists. Intended for students and researchers alike, it promotes the idea that Shannon and Weaver's Mathematical Theory of Communication still represents a strong framework for understanding all aspects of the communication process, including its dynamic dimensions.

Play takes up much of the time budget of young children, and many animals, but its importance in development remains contested. This comprehensive collection brings together multidisciplinary and developmental perspectives on the forms and functions of play in animals, children in different societies, and through the lifespan. The Cambridge Handbook of Play covers the evolution of play in animals, especially mammals; the development of play from infancy through childhood and into adulthood; historical and anthropological perspectives on play; theories and methodologies; the role of play in children's learning; play in special groups such as children with impairments, or suffering political violence; and the practical applications of playwork and play therapy. Written by an international team of scholars from diverse disciplines such as psychology, education, neuroscience, sociology, evolutionary biology and anthropology, this essential reference presents the current state of the field in play research.

This book presents the facet theoretical framework as a tool for facilitating the conception of complex animal behaviour research and the design of research procedures through employing mapping sentences. Using the facet theoretical framework, this book takes a holistic view of bird behaviour. Components of bird behavior are identified and then reassembled to facilitate an understanding of the behaviour in the context of its natural occurrence. This provides new insight on both the parts of the behaviour and how these interact as a whole. The multi-faceted approach to designing, evaluating and understanding bird behavior presented offers a template that is adaptable for investigating a wide variety of avian species and different forms of behaviour. Behavioural biologists, animal and comparative psychologists, other natural and behavioural scientists, as well as students of these disciplines will find this book to be an interesting and enlightening read.

This comprehensive introductory text integrates evolutionary, ecological, and demographic perspectives with new results from field studies and contemporary noninvasive molecular and hormonal techniques to understand how different primates behave and the significance of these insights for primate conservation. Each chapter is organized around the major research themes in the field, with Strier emphasizing the interplay between theory, observations, and conservation issues. Examples are drawn from the "classic" primate field studies as well as more recent studies, including many previously neglected species, to illustrate the vast behavioral variation that exists across the primate order. Primate Behavioral Ecology 6th Edition integrates the impacts of anthropogenic activities on primate populations, including zoonotic disease and climate change, and considers the importance of behavioral flexibility for primate conservation. This fully updated new edition brings exciting new methods, theoretical perspectives, and discoveries together to provide an incomparable overview of the field of primate behavioral ecology and its applications to primate conservation. It is considered to be a "must read" for all students interested in primates.

This book may provide the first and only clinical analysis that shows just why there is no such thing as irrational or dysfunctional behavior. The nonlinear contingency analysis presented demonstrates through principle and application that even the most personally costly behavior is in fact adaptive and sensible behavior when available alternatives and their consequences are explicitly considered --This book shows how a nonlinear consequential contingency analysis, goes beyond cognitive behavioral treatment, to provide an entirely new approach to clinical intervention. For those employing cognitive behavioral and related treatments this will be a must-read for the opportunity it provides practitioners to challenge and expand their treatment options, and or those who teach the increasingly growing number of BCBA candidates, this is the only book that will directly relate the scientific literature being taught in their programs to clinical intervention. This is one of the few books to provide a comprehensive approach to treating clinically complex behavior problems such as delusions and hallucinations, as well as a framework for behavior problems arising from organic sources, such as those found in cognitive decline.

Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field, Second Edition provides a comprehensive manual on animal behavior lab activities. This new edition brings together basic research and methods, presenting applications and problem-solving techniques. It provides all the details to successfully run designed activities while also offering flexibility and ease in setup. The exercises in this volume address animal behavior at all levels, describing behavior, theory, application and communication. Each lab provides details on how to successfully run the activity while also offering flexibility to instructors. This is an important resource for students educators, researchers and practitioners who want to explore and study animal behavior. The field of animal behavior has changed dramatically in the past 15 - 20 years, including a greater use and availability of technology and statistical analysis. In addition, animal behavior has taken on a more applied role in the last decade, with a greater emphasis on conservation and applied behavior, hence the necessity for new resources on the topic.

What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter's Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque. Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature's lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem-and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

A two-volume set made up of 'Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids' and 'Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids'. These advanced textbooks bring together a unique network of the world's most respected and knowledgeable experts to provide a review of the biology and conservation of these families, and provide detailed case-studies from species investigations worldwide.

School-Based Behavioral Intervention Case Studies translates principles of behavior into best practices for school psychologists, teachers, and other educational professionals, both in training and in practice. Using detailed case studies illustrating evidence-based interventions, each chapter describes all the necessary elements of effective behavior intervention plans including rich descriptions of target behaviors, detailed intervention protocols, data collection and analysis methods, and tips for ensuring social acceptability and treatment integrity. Addressing a wide array of common behavior problems, this unique and invaluable resource offers real-world examples of intervention and assessment strategies.

This book addresses the relationship between high school students' HIV and AIDS knowledge and their stigma-related attitudes/perceptions of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Caribbean and South Pacific, with a view to designing effective stigma-reduction combined intervention programs. Presenting an international cross-sectional study using a purposive sample of high school students from Fiji (South Pacific), Vanuatu (South Pacific), Guyana, and Antigua & Barbuda (Caribbean) to assess HIV and AIDS knowledge and stigma-related attitudes by gender, age, religion, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, the book shows how stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs negatively impact interventions to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS.

Bumblebees are familiar and charismatic insects, occurring throughout much of the world. They are increasingly being used as a model organism for studying a wide range of ecological and behavioural concepts, such as social organization, optimal foraging theories, host-parasite interactions, and pollination. Recently they have become a focus for conservationists due to mounting evidence of range contractions and catastrophic extinctions with some species disappearing from entire continents (e.g. in North America). Only by improving our understanding of their ecology can we devise sensible plans to conserve them. The role of bumblebees as invasive species (e.g. Bombus terrestris in Japan) has also become topical with the growing trade in commercial bumblebee nests for tomato pollination leading to establishment of non-native bumblebees in a number of countries.
Since the publication of the first edition of the book, there have been hundreds of research papers published on bumblebees. There is clearly a continuing need for an affordable, well-illustrated, and appealing text that makes accessible all of the major advances in understanding of the behaviour and ecology of bumblebees that have been made in the last 30 years.

Learning and Behavior reviews how people and animals learn and how their behaviors are changed because of learning. It describes the most important principles, theories, controversies, and experiments that pertain to learning and behavior that are applicable to diverse species and different learning situations. Both classic studies and recent trends and developments are explored, providing a comprehensive survey of the field. Although the behavioral approach is emphasized, many cognitive theories are covered as well, along with a chapter on comparative cognition. Real-world examples and analogies make the concepts and theories more concrete and relevant to students. In addition, most chapters provide examples of how the principles covered have been employed in applied and clinical behavior analysis. The text proceeds from the simple to the complex. The initial chapters introduce the behavioral, cognitive, and neurophysiological approaches to learning. Later chapters give extensive coverage of classical conditioning and operant conditioning, beginning with basic concepts and findings and moving to theoretical questions and current issues. Other chapters examine the topics of reinforcement schedules, avoidance and punishment, stimulus control and concept learning, observational learning and motor skills, comparative cognition, and choice. Thoroughly updated, each chapter features many new studies and references that reflect recent developments in the field. Learning objectives, bold-faced key terms, practice quizzes, a chapter summary, review questions, and a glossary are included. The text is intended for undergraduate or graduate courses in psychology of learning, (human) learning, introduction to learning, learning processes, animal behavior, (principles of) learning and behavior, conditioning and learning, learning and motivation, experimental analysis of behavior, behaviorism, and behavior analysis.

When did humans begin to kiss? Why is kissing integral to some cultures and alien to others? Do good kissers make the best lovers? And is that expensive lip-plumping gloss worth it? Sheril Kirshenbaum, a marine biologist and science journalist, tackles these questions and more in THE SCIENCE OF KISSING. It's everything you always wanted to know about kissing but either haven't asked, can't find out, or didn't realize you should understand. Sheril's a serious scientist, and the material here is informed by the results of the latest studies and theories, but she's also got an engaging, delightful voice and offers information with a light, humorous touch. Topics range from the kind of kissing men like to do (as distinct from women), to what animals can teach us about the kiss, to whether or not the true art of kissing was lost sometime in the Dark Ages, to what, really, makes us kiss. Employing an interdisciplinary approach--drawing upon classical history, evolutionary biology, psychology, popular culture, and more--Kirshenbaum's winning book will appeal to romantics and armchair scientists alike.

'This wonderful book is essential reading for all children with furry best friends, written in a way that is very easy to follow and great fun!' - Kate Silverton My name is Steve Mann and I have THE COOLEST JOB IN THE WORLD! As a dog trainer, I get to work with our fantastic furry friends every single day. Now, I want to teach YOU how you can become an AWESOME PAWSOME dog trainer too! As well as all the essential skills such as Sit, Down and walking nicely on a lead, you'll also get to learn... - How to teach your dog to MAKE THEIR OWN BED! - How your dog's nose will help you find HIDDEN TREASURE! - Why DOGS ARE THE BEST! This book is filled with easy, fun and super-cool exercises for you and your dog to do together. You'll soon be qualified as an AWESOME PAWSOME dog trainer and, best of all, you and your dog will become the BEST TEAM-MATES ... while always HAVING FUN! The must-have book for any family with a dog and kids living under the same woof - ahem - roof!

Completely updated and revised, and synthesizing the recent explosion in animal welfare literature, the sixth edition of this best-selling textbook continues to provide a thorough overview of behaviour and welfare of companion and farm animals, including fish. The introductory section has been completely revised, with all following chapters updated, redesigned and improved to reflect our changing understanding. This edition includes: - New and revised chapters on climate change and sustainability, ethics, and philosophy to ensure that the book provides the latest information in a changing world; - New information on human interactions with other animal species, big data, modern technologies, brain function, emotions and behaviour; - Solutions and advice for common abnormal behaviours. Written by a world-leading expert and key opinion leader in animal behaviour and welfare, this text provides a highly accessible guide to the subject. It is an essential foundation for any veterinary, animal science, animal behaviour or welfare-focused undergraduate or graduate course.

This book gives an up-to-date account of the current knowledge of cold adaptation in animals, including phenomena like hibernation, daily torpor, thermoregulation and thermogenesis, metabolic regulation, freeze tolerance, anaerobiosis, metabolic depression and related processes. For the next four years - until the 12th International Hibernation Symposium - it will serve as a state-of-the-art reference source for every scientist and graduate student working in these areas of physiology and zoology.

This open-access book empowers its readers to explore the acoustic world of animals. By listening to the sounds of nature, we can study animal behavior, distribution, and demographics; their habitat characteristics and needs; and the effects of noise. Sound recording is an efficient and affordable tool, independent of daylight and weather; and recorders may be left in place for many months at a time, continuously collecting data on animals and their environment. This book builds the skills and knowledge necessary to collect and interpret acoustic data from terrestrial and marine environments. Beginning with a history of sound recording, the chapters provide an overview of off-the-shelf recording equipment and analysis tools (including automated signal detectors and statistical methods); audiometric methods; acoustic terminology, quantities, and units; sound propagation in air and under water; soundscapes of terrestrial and marine habitats; animal acoustic and vibrational communication; echolocation; and the effects of noise. This book will be useful to students and researchers of animal ecology who wish to add acoustics to their toolbox, as well as to environmental managers in industry and government.

The reader of this comprehensive presentation benefits from an outstanding overview of all aspects of the fascinating phenomenon of bird migration. The book is written by leading experts from around the world. The text summarizes reviews and discussions of the most recent hypotheses. In doing so, it covers the entire research field from phenomenology through to ecology, physiology, control mechanisms, orientation, evolutionary aspects and conservation measures. It also examines the most modern methodological approaches including, satellite trakcking, molecular techniques or stable isotope investigations and envisages forthcoming developments in the course of global warming.

The present book aims to examine how sexual selection works in the human species. Almost all scholarly effort focuses on sexual selection in non-human species and extrapolates the findings to the human one. However, human mating has a unique pattern not found in any other species, namely parental influence over mate choice. Across preindustrial societies, the typical pattern of long-term mating is arranged marriage, where parents choose spouses for their children. By doing so, parents effectively become a sexual selection force. Traits that enhance an individual's chance to be selected as a son- or a daughter-in-law confer important reproductive advantages to those who are endowed with them, increasing in frequency in the population. The author has coined the term parental choice to describe the sexual selection force that arises from parental control over mating. He synthesizes extensive theoretical and empirical work in order to understand and model this force. The aim is to understand which factors give rise to parental choice and to combine these insights into constructing a more formal model. It also aims to further examine whether the predictions of the model fit the patterns of mating found across different types of human societies, and how the model can be used to understand the evolution of behavioral traits involved in mating. By synthesizing the various arguments put forward and published across the literature, the book offers a comprehensive argument and overview of an aspect of sexual selection unique to our species. Furthermore, the book revises and extends previously made arguments and models, while it provides useful insights on how the proposed revision of sexual selection theory can enable us to understand a wide range of human behavioral phenomena. It should be key reading for those interested in studying sexual selection in general and in the Homo sapiens species in particular.