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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Animal behaviour
These notes are intended to help undergraduates who need to understand something of behavior both for its intrinsic interest and for their future careers in medicine, biology, psychology, anthropology, veterinary medicine, and nursing. In Emory University's Biology Department, a single-semester course called Evolutionary Perspectives on Behavior is given to undergraduates. It amounts to four, not eight months of study, so a great deal of compression is essential. There are several excellent textbooks available that deal with behavioral science from different perspectives, but we have found them too compendious for use in a short course when students are so heavily burdened; it is unsatisfactory to direct them to a chapter here and there in several different books or to this or that review article and original paper. In this volume, we have tried effectively and inexpensively to put in one place what we know is needed. The topics we have selected deal with their subjects in a simple, straightforward way without being too superficial. We could not cover everything and the gaps are not entirely idiosyncratic but reflect what students are given very well in other courses. Thus, there is no mention of the physiology of the axon and synapse; learning, memory, cognition, and basic genetics are hardly touched upon because students know about these matters from elsewhere.
'Kindness and co-operation have played a crucial role in raising humans to the top of the evolutionary tree ... We have thrived on the milk of human kindness.' Observer BY THE AUTHOR OF ARE WE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW SMART ANIMALS ARE? 'There is a widely-held assumption that humans are hard-wired for relentless and ruthless competition ... Frans de Waal sees nature differently - as a biological legacy in which empathy, not mere self-interest, is shared by humans, bonobos and animals.' Ben Macintyre, The Times Empathy holds us together. That we are hardwired to be altruistic is the result of thousands of years of evolutionary biology which has kept society from slipping into anarchy. But we are not alone: primates, elephants, even rodents are empathetic creatures too. Social behaviours such as the herding instinct, bonding rituals, expressions of consolation and even conflict resolution demonstrate that animals are designed to feel for each other. From chimpanzees caring for mates that have been wounded by leopards, elephants reassuring youngsters in distress and dolphins preventing sick companions from drowning, with a wealth of anecdotes, scientific observations, wry humour and incisive intelligence, The Age of Empathy is essential reading for all who believe in the power of our connections to each other.
This book is a concise informative elucidation of all aspects of reproduction and development in annelids covering from arenicola to tubifex. Annelids flourish between 4,900 m depth to 2,000 m altitude; some of them occur in unusual habitats like hydrothermal vents and subterranean aquatic system (stigobionts). A few have no gut and acquire adequate nutrients through osmotrophism and/or engaging symbiotic microbes. In the absence of exoskeleton to escape predation, the 17,000 speciose annelids have explored bewildering modes of reproduction; not surprisingly, 42-47% of them are brooders. With 13,000 species, polychaetes are gonochores but some 207 species of them are hermaphrodites. Clitellates are all hermaphrodites; of them, 76 species are parthenogens, of which 56 are earthworms. Regenerative potency of annelids ranges from an organ to an entire worm from a single 'seminal' segment. The head, tail and both together can be regenerated 21, 42 and 20 times, respectively. However, the potency is limited to ~1% of polychaetes and < 2% of oligochaetes. In oligochaetes, the chloragogue temporally separates regeneration and reproduction but sedentary polychaetes undertake them together at the reduced reproductive output. Only 79 polychaete and 111 oligochaete species have the potency for clonal reproduction. Within families, the potency ranges from 2% in spionids to 54% in naidids. Epitoky, a spectacular and unique phenomenon, involves the transformation from benthic to meroplanktonic reproductive morphism. It occurs in 106 errant polychaete species. The larger glycerides, nereidids and eunicids use muscular energy to climb < 50 m vertical distance. But the small phyllodocids and cteniodrilids may reduce buoyancy to climb 1,000-4,000 m vertical distance. Heterogamatic sex determination is reported to occur only in six polychaete species, although karyotype is known for 83 annelid species. In temperate polychaetes, a dozen neuroendocrines, arising mostly from the 'brain' regulates reproductive cycle. A complete chapter devoted to vermiculture, (i) recognizes the fast-growing candidate species, (ii) distinguishes 'layers' from 'brooders', (iii) indicates that the harvest of oligochaetes may reduce the input of nitrogenous fertilizer in the ricefield, and (iv) explores the scope for increasing wealth from waste.
Equine Behavioral Medicine provides an essential resource for those who work with, study, and provide care to horses. It provides critical knowledge to help users understand the complex aspects of their behavior in order to benefit the animal, observe safe practices, and advance research in this area. The book includes current information on normal horse behavior and problem behaviors, particularly those associated with medical conditions, changes in the nervous system, and the use of drug therapy. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the differences of the sensory systems and the concepts of learning that are helpful for successful treatments and safety. With the use of psychopharmacology becoming increasingly common by veterinarians, including for abnormal behaviors, is important to understand the rationale for the use of these medications. Understanding the intimate relationship between behavior, physiology, and health is key to practitioners, students, professionals, and others who work with, or care for, horses.
Originally published in 1948, the author follows the idea that the instincts are "the spring and basis of all animal behaviour (with the exception perhaps of play), and therewith the core of the animal's mind, and that individual experience, gathered by the animal in the course of its life, may influence and reconstruct these instincts, so as to guide, in the form of intelligence and understanding, this behaviour along new (i.e. innate) paths. Thus, instinct and experience become the pillars upon which animal behaviour is built up; instinct, intelligence, and understanding form a triad round which the facts of the psychology of animals may be grouped. As a foundation of all this the author first tries to prove the good right of a real and genuine animal psychology, not hampered by objectivistic and behaviouristic scruples, while in a final chapter, by way of conclusion, he tries to give an image of how the world of the animal is built up."
In the past decade, the field of comparative cognition has grown and thrived. No less rigorous than purely behavioristic investigations, examinations of animal intelligence are useful for scientists and psychologists alike in their quest to understand the nature and mechanisms of intelligence. Extensive field research of various species has yielded exciting new areas of research, integrating findings from psychology, behavioral ecology, and ethology in a unique and wide-ranging synthesis of theory and research on animal cognition. This updated edition of The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition contains sections on perception and illusion, attention and search, memory processes, spatial cognition, conceptualization and categorization, problem solving and behavioral flexibility, and social cognition processes. The authors have incorporated new findings and new theoretical approaches that reflect the current state of the field, including findings in primate tool usage, pattern learning, and counting. This comprehensive volume will be a must-read for students and scientists who are curious about the state the modern science of comparative cognition.
Originally published in 1928, this title looks at the link between animal and human conduct. It had long been recognized on the basis of their activities that many animals possess minds, and that these are similar in a considerable number of respects to human minds. According to the author, this book looks at man's position within nature from the perspective of a naturalist, rather than a psychologist or philosopher. He has attempted to describe the working of mind and body in human beings and in other living things; to examine critically the mental technique involved in such descriptions; and to reason broadly as to the bearings of the facts and processes on human life. Now it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.
This 1998 book describes the sampling and statistical methods used most often by behavioral ecologists and field biologists. Written by a biologist and two statisticians, it provides a rigorous discussion together with worked examples of statistical concepts and methods that are generally not covered in introductory courses, and which are consequently poorly understood and applied by field biologists. The first section reviews important issues such as defining the statistical population and the sampling plan when using non-random methods for sample selection, bias, interpretation of statistical tests, confidence intervals and multiple comparisons. After a detailed discussion of sampling methods and multiple regression, subsequent chapters discuss specialized problems such as pseudoreplication, and their solutions. It will quickly become the statistical handbook for all field biologists.
Various parallels have been drawn between wolves and humans from the perspective of their social organisation. Therefore, studying wolves may well shed light on the evolutionary origins of complex human cognition and, in particular, on the role that cooperation played in its development. Humans closely share their lives with millions of dogs - the domesticated form of wolves. Biologically, wolves and dogs can be considered to be the same species; yet only dogs are suitable living companions in human homes, highlighting the importance of cognitive and emotional differences between the two forms. The behaviour of wolves and dogs largely depends on the environment the animals grew up and live in. This book reviews more than 50 years of research on the differences and similarities of wolves and dogs. Beyond the socio-ecology, the work explores different theories about when and how the domestication of wolves might have started and which behaviours and cognitive abilities might have changed during this process. Readers will discover how these fascinating animals live with their conspecifics in their social groups, how they approach and solve problems in their daily lives and how they see and interact with their human partners.
Problems of classroom management and control are a recurring concern for many teachers. Disruptive behaviour and inattention hinder effective learning and impose a constant drain upon the teachers' emotional resources. Continual nagging at children only increases teacher stress: what is needed is an effective alternative set of strategies. Originally published in 1984, Positive Teaching seeks to meets this need by presenting the behavioural approach to teaching in a clear, direct and lucid way. By adopting the behavioural approach, problem behaviour can be minimised, or rapidly nipped in the bud when it does arise. While punishment may be used in an attempt to stop almost any kind of behaviour, only the appropriate use of positive methods applied contingently, immediately and consistently can teach new, more adaptive behaviour. This is a crucial issue in real teaching and is rarely encountered or even discussed in most teacher education programmes. It is the central focus of Positive Teaching. This book is for all teachers, from the beginning student to experienced head teachers; for those teaching in a first school, and for those teaching sixth-formers; for those experiencing difficulties and for those whose authority is already well established. The behavioural approach offers practical support to those who are struggling and a rationale for the effective, positive strategies of the successful. We can all improve our teaching.
Originally published in 1986, in this work Professor Keehn assesses the contributions of experimental psychology and ethology to psychiatric theory and practice at the time. He discusses the status of animals in psychopathology, and describes a number of animal clinical pictures, covering both abnormal movements and convulsions, and spontaneous behavioural disorders. He also includes animal models of such psychiatric illnesses as neurosis, psychosis, drug addiction and disorders of childhood, and examines the nature of mental illness and the status of psychiatric diagnosis. The book includes an evaluation of the ethics of experimental research with animals and a summary of humane experimental procedures. Animal Models for Psychiatry will be of special interest to psychiatrists, clinical and physiological psychologists, behavioural pharmacologists, and to veterinarians.
Originally published in 1970, this is a survey of findings on the learning of young animals and human infants. In an attempt to discover some of the characteristic features of early learning, it examines all types of learning from conditioning and the primitive process known as 'imprinting', usually associated with ducklings, to the beginnings of understanding and language. The so-called 'critical' periods for social learning and personality development are considered at some length, and a close look is taken at research methods used in studying early learning, and at the needs and problems of current research. As a textbook for students of psychology, biology and sociology this book would have been invaluable at the time of publication. It should still also be of interest to research workers in the fields of animal behaviour and developmental psychology, and to practising psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers, as it is an up-to-date summary of all the knowledge concerning early learning at the time.
The area of applied psychology known as behaviour modification or behaviour therapy had progressed remarkably in the ten years, prior to publication. Illustrative of this progress is the variety of therapeutic and behaviour management techniques now available to the applied psychologist. This volume, originally published in 1981, describes some of the important characteristics of this development, and in particular, the relationship between behaviour change techniques and the principles of conditioning theory that generated them. This brief gives rise to three main themes. First, the book describes some of the reasons underlying the adoption of the conditioning paradigm and the epistemological advantages of the paradigm for behaviour modification. Second, a number of chapters discuss the current trends in specific areas of applied psychology where conditioning principles play an important heuristic role. These chapters deal with the uses made of conditioning theory in the areas of mental handicap, psychiatric therapy, work organizations, and the treatment of brain injury. Third, later chapters discuss some of the more recent theoretical developments in the field of behaviour modification/therapy, in particular the drift from strict behaviouristic applications of conditioning principles to more cognitive ones.
Originally published in 1987, the introduction states: "the authors have successfully accomplished their program - to explain, based on physical representations, the observed relations among various parameters of wrist-pendulum oscillations. Thereby a set of new ideas and concepts, including those developed recently by the scientific school to which the authors belong, are introduced to biology. These concepts are closely related to the experimental data. This accomplishment makes the book especially attractive and demonstrates once more the productivity of applying physics to biology." "Clear language, simple figures, and physical examples illuminate rather complicated problems. These attractive features should make the book intelligible to a variety of investigators in the field of motor control, not only to the specialists with physical and mathematical education." From the foreword: " Kugler and Turvey have written strategic physical biology, and shown that, after all, dynamics (including both kinetics and kinematics) may support a unitary physical view of some of the profound operations of our brains... This is a grand start on what I hope is a larger program of demystifying behaviour."
This book is the first veterinary textbook dedicated to nursing care plans. It offers a broad overview of the theory and practice of care planning in veterinary nursing, answering three key questions: What are nursing care plans? Why should nursing care plans be used in practice? How should nursing care plans be used in practice? Author Helen Ballantyne provides basic definitions and explanations which will be useful to those unfamiliar with nursing care plans. For those veterinary nurses and technicians who are using nursing care plans, the content stimulates debate and discussion, by covering some of the philosophical and theoretical aspects of nursing and drawing comparisons and contrasts between the veterinary and human nursing roles and contexts. There is a pressing need for veterinary nurses to establish themselves as professionals and develop their unique role within the veterinary care team. Nursing care plans are a core tool to support that development. It is hoped that veterinary nurses may borrow tools from the pages of this book or use it as a resource design their unique care plans: either way, this practical guide will support the application of care planning, no matter the species of the animal kingdom for whom you are caring.
This special volume provides twelve contributions that discuss different aspects of social and endocrine behaviors with an emphasis on the neural regulation of these behaviors. In addition, several review chapters address the neural plasticity that results from exposure to hormones or the experiences with the behavior. Finally, each of the contributions emphasizes future directions and incorporation of newly developed neuroscience techniques and approaches.
This book presents a series of empirically based case studies conducted by social change scholars from Asia-Pacific, showcasing the latest social marketing approaches geared at improving societal well-being in the region. Cutting across cultural perspectives, the contents gather ideas on social marketing campaigns and strategies from around the region and use these case studies as a platform to address concomitant challenges in employing marketing tools to positively change social behaviour. The selection of case studies covers and compares aspects of public health and well-being, and public environmental consciousness in terms of driving attitudes towards implementing improved sustainability in developing and developed countries. Drawing on related policies and legislation, and examining social behaviour at the individual, community, and organisational levels, the authors propose innovative new methods in social marketing and social change research. The book is of interest to researchers and practitioners in social marketing, business ethics, behavioural science, public health, and development studies.
In order to communicate, animals send and receive signals that are subject to their particular anatomical, psychological, and environmental constraints. This SHAR volume discusses both the production and perception of acoustic signals. Chapters address the information that animals communicate, how the communication is developed and learned, and how communication systems have adapted and evolved within species. The book will give examples from a variety of species.
Originally published in 1928, this volume, by a world authority on the subject, sums up our knowledge of the social insects. It inquires what are the social insects and what it is that makes us call them 'social'. Terebrantia, aculeata, wasps, bees, ants, and termites are discussed in a succession of chapters, showing how they have evolved, to how great an extent they have developed, and what are the peculiarities of their evolution. Polymorphism, the Social Medium, Guests and Parasites of the Social Insects, are other subjects discussed in this fascinating book.
The approach to psychology advocated by the radical behaviourists was often misunderstood and frequently gave rise to controversy. Originally published in 1974, this book introduced current research in operant conditioning and explains the attempt to understand behaviour inherent in such experiments at the time. After considering the philosophical context in which behaviouristic psychology developed, the author outlines the basic characteristics of operant research by reviewing single experiments on the effects of reinforcement on behaviour. Chapters on schedules of intermittent reinforcement extend this approach to more complex situations and emphasize that behaviour can be maintained and controlled in many different ways by environmental events. The author then discusses recent work on conditional reinforcement and on the discriminative control of behaviour and shows how operant research has changed our understanding of these important concepts in psychology. Subsequent chapters review research within the operant paradigm on the effects on behaviour of punishment, anxiety, aversive stimuli and drugs, again by emphasising the special contribution to these topics made by operant conditioning techniques and methodology. The final chapters consider the general implications of operant research for educational practice and for clinical psychology, and place this approach within the context of psychology as a whole. Dr Blackman argues that it should be recognized as one important attempt to further the scientific analysis of behaviour. This book, filled a long recognized need for an undergraduate text in this area at the time, and helped students form their own evaluation. Now it should be read in its historical context.
This accessible introduction to animal behaviour provides an authoritative yet reader-friendly guide for the interested naturalist. It presents current knowledge about the way animals behave and will enable the reader to derive more pleasure from their observations of animals by gaining a deeper understanding of their behaviour. The concepts are presented in an easily appreciated way with which everyone can associate.In the first part of the book, the author explores how animals behave by considering the physical processes involved in the way animals perceive their environment and what determines how they respond to it. This is followed by the 'why' of animal behaviour in which the author examines many topics under the overall issue of expressing behaviour, and the evolutionary forces that have shaped - and continue to shape - the detailed form of more complex behaviours. Therefore questions such as why animals forage in the way they do and how that foraging pattern may be refined to optimal efficiency; why animals adopt a particular reproductive strategy and breeding behaviour and why some animals live as solitary individuals, while others live in groups and so on.The book is copiously illustrated throughout in support and interpretation of the text. While the pictures enhance understanding of the written text, the text also showcases the exquisite illustrations of wildlife artist Catherine Putman.
"Everything looked perfect. Sand - unique Baltic sand, the best in the world - and the calm sea. But wait. Something was amiss. Something was wrong" It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It's enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe. He also looks with a birdwatcher's eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own "environmental neurosis" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work. While Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there's still something worth saving. Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones
How to Raise a Puppy moves away from the traditional approach to raising puppies, focused on obedience and control, and instead takes an holistic, dog-centred approach. Drawing on research into how dogs naturally rear their young, and how dogs have evolved to behave and spend their time, it supports a new way of sharing our lives with our dogs. It also offers advice on dealing with some of the common challenges people experience with puppies, and tips for managing adolescence. A much-needed resource for dog trainers, veterinarians and behaviourists to recommend to clients, this conveys a powerful message to help overcome all too common issues so many people have with their puppies. Packed with practical advice, it offers an overdue "puppy perspective", with respect for a dog as a sentient being at its core.
How to Raise a Puppy moves away from the traditional approach to raising puppies, focused on obedience and control, and instead takes an holistic, dog-centred approach. Drawing on research into how dogs naturally rear their young, and how dogs have evolved to behave and spend their time, it supports a new way of sharing our lives with our dogs. It also offers advice on dealing with some of the common challenges people experience with puppies, and tips for managing adolescence. A much-needed resource for dog trainers, veterinarians and behaviourists to recommend to clients, this conveys a powerful message to help overcome all too common issues so many people have with their puppies. Packed with practical advice, it offers an overdue "puppy perspective", with respect for a dog as a sentient being at its core.
Sentience - the ability to feel, perceive and experience - is central to the animal welfare debate as it raises the question of whether animals experience suffering in life and death. This book explores and answers these questions in an objective way, based on the latest research and empirical evidence. Beginning with an introduction to sentience, the book investigates why we are so interested in sentience, when, as a species, humans became sentient and how it has changed over time. The book defines aspects of sentience such as consciousness, memory and emotions, and discusses brain complexity in detail. Looking at sentience from a developmental perspective, it analyses when in an individual's growth sentience can be said to appear and uses evidence from a range of studies investigating embryos, foetuses and young animals to form an enlightening overview of the subject. With a full chapter covering ethical decisions such as animal protection and experimentation, this book is not only an invaluable resource for researchers and students of animal welfare and biology, but also an engaging and informative read for veterinarians and the general public. |
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