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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Animal behaviour
This collection provides English readers with a critical update on current debates on biopolitics in and around Italian thought. More than a decade after the publication of seminal books such as Agamben's Homo Sacer and Hardt and Negri's Empire, the names of, among others, Roberto Esposito, Paolo Virno, Christian Marazzi, and Andrea Fumagalli have recently been brought to the attention of Anglophone scholars and political activists. Several authors have rightly emphasised the evanescent character of biopolitics, and the difficulty in providing a definition of it that could embrace all the conflicting theories of its most celebrated critics and supporters. The present collection is structured around the basic contention that bio-economy, human nature, and Christianity are the three visible contemporary manifestations of the theoretical object/problem of biopolitics in, respectively, Italian post-workerist economics, post-Marxist philosophical anthropology, and post-structuralist ontology. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki.
Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection presents the intricate ways
in which sperm compete to fertilize eggs and how this has prompted
reinterpretations of breeding behavior. This book provides a
theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition, which is
a central part of sexual selection. It also discusses the roles of
females and the relationships between paternal care in sperm
competition. The chapters focusing on taxonomic development are
diverse and cover all the major animal groups, both vertebrate and
invertebrate, and plants. The final chapter provides an overview
discussing the relationship between sperm competition and sexual
selection in terms of both function and mechanism and how these
translate into species fitness. This book will be of prime interest
to behaviorists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists, suggesting
new avenues of research and new ways of approaching old problems.
Spatial cognition is a broad field of enquiry, emerging from a wide range of disciplines and incorporating a wide variety of paradigms that have been employed with human and animal subjects. This volume is part of a two- volume handbook reviewing the major paradigms used in each of the contributors' research areas.; This volume considers the issues of neurophysiological aspects of spatial cognition, the assessment of cognitive spatial deficits arising from neural damage in humans and animals, and the observation of spatial behaviours in animals in their natural habitats.; This handbook should be of interest to new and old students alike. The student new to spatial research can be brought up-to- speed with a particular range of techniques, made aware of the background and pitfalls of particular approaches, and directed toward useful sources. For seasoned researchers, the handbook provides a rapid scan of the available tools that they might wish to consider as alternatives when wishing to answer a particular "spatial" research problem.
Provides the first general sourcebook for identification and treatment of most behavior problems encountered in livestock and pets. Hundreds of described behaviors are arranged alphabetically, cross-referenced, and cited to sources for additional information.
This volume provides a primarily nontechnical summary of
experimental and theoretical work conducted over the course of 35
years which resulted in a developmental framework capable of
integrating causal influences at the genetic, neural, behavioral,
and ecological levels of analysis. It describes novel solutions to
the nature-nurture problem at both the empirical and theoretical
levels. Following field observations, laboratory experiments led to
the discovery of the nonobvious prenatal experiential basis of
instinctive behavior in two species--ground-nesting mallard
ducklings and hole-nesting wood ducklings. This work also describes
the experiences that lead to the rigid canalization of behavioral
development as well as the social and sensory experiences that
favor the continuance of flexibility. The author also describes in
detail a developmental psychobiological systems view that supports
a behaviorally and psychologically mediated pathway to evolutionary
change in humans and other species. Written in a way that is
readable to even the nonspecialist, the text is accompanied by
numerous photographs that illuminate and add personal meaning to
the written words. Readers will be engaged by the emphasis on the
human aspect of the scientific enterprise.
First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Originally published in 1976, the object of this volume was to present a relatively up-to-date overview of what was known, what was suspected, and what remained to be discovered concerning the general question of the evolution of the vertebrate brain and behaviour, and to present a list of references for those who wanted to delve deeper into one or another aspect of the problem. Accordingly, it contains chapters by palaeontologists, sensory morphologists and physiologists, comparative neurologists and comparative psychologists. The chapters are arranged in a sequence loosely approximating the order in which the various animals, brain structures, or behaviour first appeared. Therefore, the chapters fall naturally into sections, each section directed to a group of vertebrates, beginning with those which have very remote common ancestry and progressing to those with more recent common ancestry with mankind.
The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of areas known to be involved in mammalian vision. It has also seen a far greater understanding of the importance of reciprocal connections, intrinsic connections, structure-specific modules and modules which span different structures, as well as the introduction of parallel processing models within the thalamocortical and corticocortical streams. The body of knowledge has become so vast, and is growing so rapidly, that periodic updates are essential even for experts in the field. This volume is based on a satellite meeting of an international group of researchers. It emphasizes the most current information regarding midbrain and extrastriate mechanisms underlying vision and visually-guided behavior. The book also places these data into the larger context of how interrelated components of the visual system function to produce coherent visual experiences and behavior. New research findings are presented that are unavailable elsewhere, as well as reviews and broad perspectives in which existing data from multiple sources are brought together in order to help understand the structure and function of extrageniculostriate visual areas.
Psychology Library Editions: Comparative Psychology (16 Volume set) brings together a number of titles which explore animal behaviour and learning, some in isolation but mostly comparing it with human behaviour. Research in this area looks at many different issues, using various methods and examines species from insects to primates. The series of previously out-of-print titles, originally published between 1928 and 1997, with the majority from the 1970s and 1980s, includes contributions from many highly respected authors.
Originally published in 1989, this title presents a view of adaptive behaviour which integrates both evolutionary and psychological perspectives on learning. The study of learning, and in particular conditioning, had evolved in isolation from the rest of the biological sciences, and until the late 1980s had largely ignored the fact that learning processes are adaptive functions subject to the pressures of evolutionary selection. This text is designed to give a thorough insight into contemporary views of learning mechanisms, at the same time incorporating an evolutionary perspective on the function and performance of learning. Graham Davey gives a detailed introduction to evolutionary approaches to behaviour and basic learning phenomena such as Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. He also provides a comparative introduction to both learning and performance aspects of conditioning. He covers ecological approaches to adaptive behaviour (e.g. foraging theory), specialized learning processes such as concept formation, spatial learning, and language learning. Innovative in its integration of ecological and evolutionary approaches with more traditional associative views of learning, the book introduces the reader to learning in a very wide variety of species other than the traditional laboratory rat and pigeon. It will be valuable to anyone with a general interest in animal behaviour, and also to those with a specific interest in learning, adaptive behaviour, and evolutionary approaches to behaviour.
Originally published in 1985, the aim of this book was to examine the development of adaptive skills in a comparative context. Comparative explorations have evolutionary implications. Thus it is inevitable that the contributors to this volume, all of whom come to the study of development with a comparative perspective, manifest concern with the relationships between ontogeny and phylogeny. In this volume both field and laboratory approaches are presented. It is quite clear that the laboratory studies are increasingly informed by ecological considerations that derive from field excursions. It is also the case that laboratory findings are becoming an essential source in directing field inquiries. The problems explored are theoretically rich and methodically significant and the comparative scope of the contributions range widely among vertebrate species.
First published in the 1960s, "On Aggression" has been the target of criticism and controversy ever since. It is not Lorenz's careful descriptions of animal behaviour that are contentious, but his extrapolations to the human world that have caused reverberations resulting in a statement adopted by UNESCO in 1989 and subsequently endorsed by the American Psychological Association that appers to condemn his work. But does "On Aggression" actually make the claims implicit in the Seville statement? In an introduction by Professor Eric Salzen, the debate about Lorenz's work is set in its social and political context and his claims and those of his critics reassessed.
Originally published in 1977, the objective of this book was to examine the mechanisms by which the multiple factors or determinants - homeostatic deficits, hormonal influences, circadian rhythms, experiential and cognitive factors - become translated by the central nervous system into thermoregulatory, feeding, sexual, aggressive, and other behaviours. A conceptual framework has been used that reflects relevant contributions from biology, regulatory physiology, physiological psychology, and other neuroscience disciplines. The final chapter deals with difficulties in brain-behaviour research in relation to experimental strategies and with crucial problems for future investigation.
This book assembles recent research on memory and learning in plants. Organisms that share a capability to store information about experiences in the past have an actively generated background resource on which they can compare and evaluate coming experiences in order to react faster or even better. This is an essential tool for all adaptation purposes. Such memory/learning skills can be found from bacteria up to fungi, animals and plants, although until recently it had been mentioned only as capabilities of higher animals. With the rise of epigenetics the context dependent marking of experiences on the genetic level is an essential perspective to understand memory and learning in organisms. Plants are highly sensitive organisms that actively compete for environmental resources. They assess their surroundings, estimate how much energy they need for particular goals, and then realize the optimum variant. They take measures to control certain environmental resources. They perceive themselves and can distinguish between 'self' and 'non-self'. They process and evaluate information and then modify their behavior accordingly. The book will guide scientists in further investigations on these skills of plant behavior and on how plants mediate signaling processes between themselves and the environment in memory and learning processes.
Originally published in 1975, this volume deals with animals and human infants. The chapters reflect a mixture of issues and problems ranging from the significance of sucking responses in the newborn, the development of memory, effects of rearing conditions in monkeys, and brain damage in animals, to processes underlying abnormal development of language. While it appears the issues are diverse, there is actually a common theme. One question is posed: How and why does normal development fail to occur in some human infants? The chapters show that there are many causes of aberrations: physical or psychological trauma, disease, inheritance, and drugs. Although one may be primary, "multiple causation" would still appear to be a sound principle in developmental pathology.
Based on research in Bolinao, this book assesses the importance of small-scale disturbance by burrowing shrimps. It covers the distribution of burrowing shrimp disturbance, the behavior of the snapping shrimp Alpheus macellarius in situ and as observed from tank experiments, and the effects of short-term burial and leaf clipping on the growth patterns of the dominant seagrass Thalassia hemprichii. The book examines the role of bioturbation by burrowing shrimps in seagrass meadows, foraging strategies of A. macellarius and its mutualistic symbiosis with Cryptocentrus spp., shrimp disturbance and T. hemprichii, and small-scale disturbance and large-scale dynamics.
This volume is based on the proceedings of a conference held in Sicily, in October 1991. It illustrates the developments in the field of behavioural ecology using fishes, with new or more sophisticated ideas and techniques that offer the potential of powerful analyses of selection on behaviour.
Originally published in 1988, this book outlines a new evolutionary paradigm for understanding human society and mental structure, originating from the editor's work in primate ethology. It is supported and further elaborated by the contributors. Chance argues that two modes of social interaction, the agonic and hedonic, underlie social life and corresponding mentality. In the agonic mode we are concerned with self-security and our attention is much taken up with being accepted by a group. This mode is based on a recently discovered state of inhibited (braked) mental arousal. Social behaviour is either authoritarian or authority subservient, and has a tendency to control or be controlled. It curbs intelligence and restricts personality development. In the hedonic mode we are freer to form a network of personal relationships that are typically mutually supportive. The hedonic mode leads to the development of self-confidence and a relaxed empathic and collaborative personality with intelligence enhanced. The volume will still be of interest to all concerned with human affairs including those working in ethology, primatology, anthropology, social psychology, psychiatry and political sociology.
This book, based on the Flowerree Mardi Gras Symposium at Tulane
University, juxtaposes contemporary research and theory from
several areas of animal learning -- learning theory, comparative
cognition, animal models of human behavior, and functional
neurology. Investigators pursuing these different routes often work
in isolation of progress being made in, what should be, related
fields. This book will acquaint students and researchers with a
variety of topics, ordinarily treated separately, in a way that
will stimulate integrative thinking. Cognitive interpretations of
animal learning are included, as well as recent developments in
conditioning theory, physiological bases of learning, animal models
of human behavior problems, and psychopharmacology.
This volume is based on the 10th annual Harvard Symposium for the
Quantitative Analysis of Behavior. The first Harvard Symposium was
devoted to signal-detection analyses of reinforcement and choice
behavior. The present volume reprises the original signal-
detection theme, incorporating additional insights based on
experimental and theoretical analyses undertaken during the years
separating the two conferences.
The field of behavioural economics can tell us a great deal about cognitive bias and unconscious decision-making, challenging the orthodox economic model whereby consumers make rational and informed choices. But it is in the arena of health that it perhaps offers individuals and governments the most value. In this important new book, the most pernicious health issues we face today are examined through a behavioral economic lens. It provides an essential and timely overview of how this growing field of study can reframe and offer solutions to some of the biggest health issues of our age. The book opens with an overview of the core theoretical concepts, after which each chapter assesses how behavioral economic research and practice can inform public policy across a range of health issues. Including chapters on tobacco, alcohol and drug use, physical activity, dietary intake, cancer screening and sexual health, the book integrates the key insights from the field to both developed and developing nations. Also asking important ethical questions around paternalism and informed choice, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers across psychology, economics and business and management, as well as public health professionals wishing for a concise overview of the role behavioral economics can potentially play in allowing people to live healthier lives.
The contributors to this volume present research concerning the
cognitive structures and development of nonhuman primates from a
cognitive psychological perspective. The authors and researchers
come to this project from the study of humans and apply their
knowledge to research on nonhumans. For professional, researchers,
and students in cognitive, developmental, and experimental
psychology.
andbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Volume Two: Etiology
and Assessment of Behavior Problems is a definitive handbook for
dog trainers, behaviorists, breeders, veterinarians, and others who
have a serious interest in dog behavior and training. Readers will
benefit from the author's twenty-five years of study and experience
with dogs as a behavioral consultant and trainer. Volume 2 of Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training
explores the collective causes underlying the development of serous
adjustment problems in dogs. Coupled with Volume 1: Adaptation and
Learning, Volume 2 provides a comprehensive theoretical and
practical framework for understanding the development and treatment
of behavior problems. This volume is an authoritive and thoroughly referenced text that is written in a highly readable and enjoyable style. There are no other applied dog behavior texts of comparable quality and thoroughness available. |
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