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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Animal behaviour
The small but growing body of information about auditory processes in infancy is a tribute to the ingenuity and persistence of investigators in this realm. Undeter red by the frequent expressions of boredom, rage, and indifference in their subjects, these investigators nevertheless continue to seek answers to the intrigu ing but difficult questions about the course of auditory development. In the spring of 1981, a group of leading scholars and researchers in audi tion gathered to discuss the topic, Auditory Development in Infancy, at the 11th annual psychology symposium at Erindale College, University of Toronto. They came from both sides of the Atlantic and from various disciplines, including audiology, neurology, physics, and psychology. They shared their views on theory and data, as well as their perspectives from the laboratory and clinic. One unexpected bonus was an unusually distinguished audience of researchers and clinicians who contributed to lively discussion within and beyond the formal sessions."
The past decade has brought extraordinary gains in the outlook for children stricken with cancer. Though cancer remains a leading cause of death for children and young adults, more victims of child hood cancer today will survive than will die. The therapeutic advances and the optimism they instill have prompted researchers and clinicians to analyze the impact of cancer upon young patients and their famil, ies and to devise more effective intervention strategies. Hope and survival, juxtaposed with the continuing high mortality associated with certain forms of the illness, add new challenges to management of the psychosocial aspects of cancer. To respond to these challenges we need research as rigorous as that which continues to make inroads in treating the physical illness. This specific concern for the needs of children suffering from cancer and their families has paralleled an increasing sensitivity on the part of the medical community and the public at large to the limitations of specialized, high technology health care practices."
The book presents new and stimulating approaches to the study of language evolution and considers their implications for future research. Leading scholars from linguistics, primatology, anthroplogy, and cognitive science consider how language evolution can be understood by means of inference from the study of linked or analogous phenomena in language, animal behaviour, genetics, neurology, culture, and biology. In their introduction the editors show how these approaches can be interrelated and deployed together through their use of comparable forms of inference and the similar conditions they place on the use of evidence. The Evolutionary Emergence of Language will interest everyone concerned with this intriguing and important subject, including those in linguistics, biology, anthropology, archaeology, neurology, and cognitive science.
There are more than 6000 species belonging to twenty-seven orders in the Class Mammalia. Comparative studies of this diverse and magnificent array of extant species provide valuable opportunities to formulate and test hypotheses concerning the evolution of reproduction. This is the first book to explore, in depth and breadth, the complex interrelationships that exist between patterns of mating behaviour and the evolution of mammalian reproductive anatomy and physiology. It focuses upon the role that copulatory and post-copulatory sexual selection have played during the evolution of the monotremes, marsupials and placental mammals, and examines the effects of sperm competition and cryptic female choice upon coevolution of the genitalia in the two sexes. In addition, due weight is also given to discussions of the modes of life of mammals, and to the roles played by natural selection and phylogeny in determining their reproductive traits.
Indonesia possesses the second largest primate population in the world, with over 33 different primate species. Although Brazil possesses more primate species, Indonesia outranks it in terms of its diversity of primates, ranging from prosimians (slow lorises and tarsiers), to a multitude of Old World Monkey species (macaques, langurs, proboscis moneys) to lesser apes (siamangs, gibbons) and great apes (orangutans). The primates of Indonesia are distributed throughout the archipelago. Partly in response to the number of primates distributed throughout the Indonesian archipelago, Indonesia is classified as the home of two biodiversity hotspots (Wallacea and Sundaland). In order to be classified as a hotspot, an area must have a large proportion of endemic species coupled with a high degree of threat including having lost more than 70% of its original habitat. Two areas within Indonesia meet these criteria. The tremendous diversity of primates in Indonesia, in conjunction with the conservation issues facing the primates of this region, created a need for this volume.
Animal behaviour, as a discipline, has undergone several key transitions over the last 25 years, growing in both depth and breadth. Key advances have been made in behavioural ecology and socio-biology, in the development of studies integrating proximate and ultimate causation, in the integration of laboratory and field work, and in advances in theoretical work in areas such as sexual selection, foraging and life-history traits. Thus it is appropriate to relate the individual stories of those who have had significant impacts on the field as we know it today. Leaders in Animal Behaviour: The Second Generation is a collection of autobiographies from 21 individuals that have been peer selected, and have provided unique and important contributions to the field in the past 25 years.
The first book on zoo/captive animal behavior and how this applies to welfare. Despite growing evidence of the need to implement more suitable, naturalistic practices into zoo animal welfare, it still seems to be somewhat overlooked - this book will address this oversight. Includes specific detail and examples focusing on taxa, a huge factor in managing animals in zoos that has not previously been addressed in this way. Covers invertebrates as well as vertebrate species. Would be a recommended or core text on Zoo Biology courses, BScs in Animal Science, and Animal Welfare MScs, as well as an invaluable practitioner reference. A lot of students interested in animal behaviour are interested in zoos. Each chapter covers species-specific content include the following information: Ecology and natural history as relevant to the zoo, behaviour and welfare measures based on ecological knowledge, feeding ecology and nutritional management, mating systems and reproductive characteristics, enrichment and behavioural diversity. The chapters are consistently formatted for ease of information, with end of chapter summaries, boxes with selected enrichment devices or welfare assessment methods for assessing welfare state, and directed reading of peer reviewed and other reputable sources that help advance care. A final Part explores welfare assessment tools, quality of life, veterinary interventions and evidence-based approaches. It looks at ways to increase the value of zoo and aquarium animals by enhancing visitor interest and visitor behaviour change. Also, research needs for keepers and how to build evidence into a daily routine, as well as management of native species programmes and the future of zoo research.
Anxiety is one of those entltles which everyone "knows," but which ultimately resists simple objective description. The essence of the phenomenon is its subjectivity. True it has its well documented associated physiological events: the increased pulse rate and blood pressure, sweating, and so on, but each of these phenomena may also be part of physical exertion, fear, or even pleasurable excitement. They cannot fully define the sense of threat, danger, collapse, malignancy in greater or smaller amount, in greater or lesser locali sation, with more or less objective evidence for its validity that characterises the particular psychological pain we all recognize as anxiety. It is precisely the essential subjectivity of anxiety and its association with an enormous range of experience that makes it difficult to assign to it well-defined diagnostic labels of the kinds so carefully described by Dr. Spitzer in his chapter on classification. His chapter ranges from the extreme dread of "Panic Disorders," to the diffuse terror of the environment which used to be labelled "Agoraphobia" (and is still so called in the day to day pragmatic usage of many clinics) and is not assimilated to the class of phobias with the label "Social Phobias." He also addresses the "Simple Phobias" which are perhaps the most readily labelled of the many varieties of anxiety."
It is an intriguing feature of human experience that in our present world, amid thousands of indications of the effectiveness of the scientific method, so many of us persist in demonstrably illusory or magical beliefs whether religiously related or simply reflections of long-standing superstitions. At a time when millions can observe on television the first landings of human beings on the moon, when our daily lives in the so-called devel oped countries are replete with conveniences that reflect scientific advances, we still persist in daily wagers on the state lotteries, in paying astrologers or palmists for their readings, in investing thousands of dollars and hours of our legislators' time in discussing such issues as the value of daily prayer in the elementary schools. The emergence of modem medicine based increasingly on scientific research in chemistry, biology, and physics has considerably reduced people's resort to sha mans and witch doctors within the major sectors of our own society, although it has by no means eliminated such practitioners."
It has been estimated that there are at least 2,500,000 adults, 10% of the population above age 65, who are currently in need of some sort of mental health services (Kramer, Taube, and Redick, 1973). Other estimates are even higher (e. g., Pfeiffer, 1977). It is expected that this number will increase as the number of older adults increases over the next 40 years. Probably less than 400 clinical psychologists are now provid ing services to this age group. The number of elderly patients actually seen by these psychologists is very, very small. One national survey found that of 353 psychologists who reported that they had older clients, only 495 individuals were seen for psycho logical testing and 1423 for psychotherapy in the one month just prior to the response (Dye, in press). Assuming that the same in dividuals were not seen for both testing and therapy within the one month period--a questionable assumption--approximately . 08% of the at least two-and-one-half million older adults in need of psychological services are now being supplied with these services in some form or another. Thus, the need for increased involvement of clinical psychology with the aged is undeniable. However, few resources currently exist which will serve to increase the number of clinical psychologists trained to meet this need. Probably less than 100 clinical psychologists living today have received any kind of formal graduate training in the clinical psychology of the aging (Storandt, 1977)."
From the President of the Research Society on Alcoholism The field of alcohol research has been slowly but continuously evolving, taking into its domain an ever-increasing array of scientific disciplines. This senes is designed to fill the need for, a review publication that covers the broad range of research into alcohol actions and alcoholism. Research in alcohol concerns social, epidemiological, and legal concerns in addition to biomedical and behavioral topics to greater degree than research with many other drugs. A publication devoted to alcohol research should serve the broadest existing research community, but perhaps more important, it should also provide a means to recruit new investigators with fresh approaches to the field. We can and must demonstrate that legitimate, high-quality research is being done, but we must also highlight the opportunity for new workers to make a real impact on the problem. The Research Society on Alcoholism seeks to provide such a service not only through this publication but also through other ac tivities. Richard A. Deitrich, Ph.D."
This is the first in a series of volumes concerned with research encompassed by the rather broad term "environment and behavior. " The goal of the series is to begin the process of integration of knowledge on environmental and behavioral topics so that researchers and professionals can have material from diverse sources accessible in a single publication. The field of environment and behavior is broad and interdiscipli nary, with researchers drawn from a variety of traditional disciplines such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography, and other social and behavioral sciences, and from the biological and life sciences of medicine, psychiatry, biology, and ethology. The interdis ciplinary quality of the field is also reflected in the extensive involve ment of environmental professionals from architecture, urban plan ning, landscape architecture, interior design, and other fields such as recreation and natural resources, to name just a few. At present, the field has a somewhat chaotic flavor, with research being carried out by a variety of scholars who publish in a multitude of outlets. Many researchers and practitioners are unaware of the state of knowledge regarding a specific topic because of the unavailability of integrated reference materials. There are only a handful of books dealing with environment and behavior, most of them unintegrated collections of readings, with only an occasional systematic analysis of some facet of the field."
This volume was generated from papers presented at the Second Triennial Symposium of the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS) held at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, July 21-23, 1986. The meeting was held as a satellite symposium following the XXX Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences at Vancouver. IBAGS was founded at a similar satellite symposium held in Lorne, Australia, organized by John S. McKenzie and sponsored by the University of Melbourne. The symposium held in Australia was attended by 50 scientists from 12 different countries. The results of the first symposium, edited by John S. McKenzie, Robert E. Kemm and Lynette N. Wilcock, were published by Plenum Press in 1984 under the title, The Basal Ganglia - Structure and Function. It was decided that the Society should meet on a triennial basis. The time and place for Second IBAGS Symposium were set by A.G. Phillips who served as Chairman of the Program Committee along with I. Divac, S.A. Greenfield and E.T. Rolls and J.S. McKenzie. Michael E. Corcoran of the Department of Psychology, University of Victoria served as the on-site coordinator and arranger for the Symposium. He was ably assisted by Ms. Morag McNeil who handled the details which made the meeting run smoothly.
"Seek simplicity and distrust it. " Alfred North Whitehead "It will become all too clear that an ability to see patterns in behavior, an ability that some might feel proud of, can lead more easily to a wrong description than a right one. " William T. Powers The goal of the theorist-the scholar-is to take a collection of observations of the world, and perceive order in them. This process necessarily imposes an artificial simplicity upon those observations. That is, specific observations are weighed differently from each other whenever a theoretical account is abstracted from raw experiences. Some observed events are misunderstood or distorted, others are seen as representing random fluctuations and are ignored, and yet others are viewed as centrally important. This abstraction and oversimplification of reality is inevitable in theory construction. Moreover, the abstracted vision builds upon itself. That is, as a structure begins to emerge from continued observation, the structure itself guides the search for new information. The result is a construction that is more elaborate than what existed before, but it still is usually simpler than reality. It is important for scholars to believe in the value of their task, and in the general correctness of the vision that guides their work. This commitment, and the hope of progress that follows from it, make it possible to continue even when the work is difficult and slow.
"It is not thought as such that can move anything, but thought which is for the sake of something and is practical." This discerning insight, which dates back more than 2000years to Aristotle, seems to have been ignored by most psycholo gists. For more than 40years theories of human action have assumed that cogni tion and action are merely two sides of the same coin. Approaches as different as S-O-R behaviorism, social learning theory, consistency theories, and expectancy value theories of motivation and decision making have one thing in common: they all assume that "thought (or any other type of cognition) can move any thing," that there is a direct path from cognition to behavior. In recent years, we have become more and more aware of the complexities in volved in the relationship between cognition and behavior. People do not always do what they intend to do. Aside from several nonpsychological factors capable of reducing cognition-behavior consistency, there seems to be a set of complex psychological mechanisms which intervene between action-related cognitions, such as beliefs, expectancies, values, and intentions, and the enactment of the be havior suggested by those cognitions. In our recent research we have focused on volitional mechanismus which presumably enhance cognition-behavior consistency by supporting the main tenance of activated intentions and prevent them from being pushed aside by competing action tendencies."
The papers comprising this second volume of Human Behavior and the Environment represent, as do their predecessors, a cross section of current work in the broad area of problems dealing with interrelation ships between the physical environment and human behavior, at both the individual and the aggregate levels. Considering the two volumes as a unit, we have included papers covering a broad spectrum of problems ranging from the theoretical to the applied, and from the disciplinary-based to the interdisciplinary and professional. Approxi mately half of the papers are written by psychologists, with the remainder coming, in part, from such other disciplines as sociology, geography, and from such diverse applied and professional fields as natural recreation, landscape architecture, urban planning, and opera tions research. The volumes thus provide an overview of work on current topical problems. Yet, as the field is developing, specialization is inevitably increasing apace, and the editors as well as the publisher have become convinced of the desirability for futu're volumes in this series to be organized along topical lines, with successive volumes devoted to different aspects of this rather sprawling field. Thus, Volume 3, currently in the planning stage, will be devoted exclusively to the interaction of children with the physical environment, considered from diverse viewpoints, again including authors from diverse fields of specialization."
Predation is an ecological factor of almost universal importance for the biol ogist who aims at an understanding of the habits and structures of animals. Despite its pervasive nature opinions differ as to what predation really is. So far it has been defined only in negative terms; it is thought not to be par asitism, the other great process by which one organism harms another, nor filter-feeding, carrion-eating, or browsing. Accordingly, one could define predation as a process by which an animal spends some effort to locate a live prey and, in addition, spends another effort to mutilate or kill it. Ac cording to this usage of the word a nudibranch, for example, that feeds on hydroids would be a predator inasmuch as it needs some time to locate col onies of its prey which, after being located, scarcely demand more than eating, which differs little from browsing. From the definition just proposed consumption of the prey following its capture has been intentionally omit ted. Indeed, an animal may be disposed of without being eaten. Hence the biological significance of predation may be more than to maintain nutrition al homeostasis. In fact, predation may have something in common with the more direct forms of competition, a facet that will be only cursorily touched upon in this book."
In the eight years since the publication of the second edition of this Guide, psycho phannacotherapy has made many advances not only through the discovery of new medications but by the effective directing of their use to an ever-increasing variety of clinical disorders. These welcome developments are reflected in the concurrent growth and development of the Guide itself, which now enters adulthood with renewed vigor. Under the thoughtful and scholarly leadership of Dr. Alan Gelenberg, the third edition has undergone a significant transformation designed to meet the needs of the modem clinician. The panel of contributors is nearly double that of the former edition with the addition of nine new authors, who have helped in the major revision and rewriting of the text and in a broadening of the topics included. As a conse quence, the reader is assured of a thorough and thoroughly up-to-date coverage of current psychopharmacology that is both accurate and aimed at clinical utility. Having reached maturity, the third edition, while maintaining the lineaments of its earlier versions, is a considerably expanded and strengthened guide to treatment. Although now more encyclopedic in content, the new Practitioner' s Guide to Psy choactive Drugs retains the virtues of a clinical vade mecum that informed its predecessors and have eamed it a place by the patient's bedside for weIl over a decade. One may confidently anticipate its long and flourishing career in the years ahead. John C. Nemiah, M.D."
This fifth edition arms readers with the latest information on nutrient metabolism and the formulation of diets from an array of available feedstuffs. The authors discuss animals' role in ecological balance, environmental stability and sustainable agriculture and food production. A new chapter on the regulation of nutrient partitioning offers a lively and timely discussion of emerging technologies in modifying and increasing efficiency of nutrient metabolism and animal food composition. A new chapter on toxic minerals in the food chain addresses the role of agricultural production animal nutrition in protecting the environment from toxic levels of minerals and nitrogen in the food chain.
On being asked to write a book on migration and homing in animals, intended as an introductory text to inform and stimulate both students and non-specialists, I saw the following alternatives for an outline: (1) I could discuss known or hypothetical mechanisms of orientation, and enumerate animals known or thought to use these mechanisms in migration and homing. (2) I could discuss the known feats of orientation by animals under field observation (e. g. migration), following some practic able order, with a subsequent discussion of the attempts at and possible success in elucidating the basic mechanisms of orientation. Both alternatives have obvious disadvantages. (1) would suffer from the fact (a) that very few orientation mechanisms (such as the sun, star, or magnetic compass) have been firmly established and (b) that for many animals the modes of orienta tion are unknown; therefore, for many animals whose consider able feats of orientation are well known, an appropriate alloca tion could not be made. With (2) the disadvantage is that due to the complexity of animal movements, it is difficult to find some relevant order and that in many animal groups discussions of certain known mechanisms such as the sun com pass would recur. I have selected outline (2) as the much lesser evil. The discussion pursues a compromise between taxonomic order and similarity in feats of orientation or methodological approaches chosen by the various investigators."
How does behaviour develop in humans and animals? What are the causal mechanisms governing this behaviour? These important questions are addressed in this book, first published in 1994. All the significant conceptual and empirical advances in this study of behavioural development are discussed in this volume by a wide range of scientists from different disciplines. A special feature of the approach taken here is that learning, as studied by experimental psychologists, is considered to be one process contributing to the development of the individual from conception to death. The development of the brain is also discussed in relation to behavioural processes. The book is dedicated to Jaap Kruijit, whose pioneering approach to the study of causal mechanisms of behavioural development has inspired many workers in this field. It will be an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in animal behaviour, psychology, and neuroscience.
As I begin to write this Preface, I feel a rush of excitement. I have now finished the book; my gestalt is coming into completion. Throughout the months that I have been writing this, I have, indeed, been intrinsically motivated. Now that it is finished I feel quite competent and self-determining (see Chapter 2). Whether or not those who read the book will perceive me that way is also a concern of mine (an extrinsic one), but it is a wholly separate issue from the intrinsic rewards I have been experiencing. This book presents a theoretical perspective. It reviews an enormous amount of research which establishes unequivocally that intrinsic motivation exists. Also considered herein are various approaches to the conceptualizing of intrinsic motivation. The book concentrates on the approach which has developed out of the work of Robert White (1959), namely, that intrinsically motivated behaviors are ones which a person engages in so that he may feel competent and self-determining in relation to his environment. The book then considers the development of intrinsic motiva tion, how behaviors are motivated intrinsically, how they relate to and how intrinsic motivation is extrinsically motivated behaviors, affected by extrinsic rewards and controls. It also considers how changes in intrinsic motivation relate to changes in attitudes, how people attribute motivation to each other, how the attribution process is motivated, and how the process of perceiving motivation (and other internal states) in oneself relates to perceiving them in others."
Here, experts in different areas of the field provide an overview of the bioacoustics of whales and dolphins as well as a thorough introduction to the subject for investigators of hearing in other animals. Topics covered include the structure and function of cetacean auditory systems, the unique sound production system of odontocetes, acoustic communication, psychoacoustics, echolocation and models of sound propagation.
The abuse of alcohol presents a major health problem throughout the world. Until recently both clinical and research efforts have been geared toward treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholism. With the growing num ber of problem drinkers entering treatment, the need for a better under standing of the prevention of alcohol abuse has become increasingly evi dent. Although still in its infancy, the field of alcoholism prevention is growing at a rapid rate. Increasing numbers of behavioral scientists through out the world are conducting or planning prevention projects. Policy plan ners, school administrators, military agencies, community groups, state and local alcoholism agencies, and industries are initiating alcohol abuse preven tion programs with fervor. Legislators at all levels of government are also developing a keen interest in legislation aimed at reducing the extent of problem drinking. This book represents one of the first systematic attempts to compile a comprehensive text on the prevention of alcohol abuse. Many of the con tributors to Prevention 0/ Alcohol Abuse have international reputations that strengthen their understanding of the complex nature of prevention. By providing a critical review of the current knowledge about prevention, the text will serve to stimulate and lay the groundwork for further prevention efforts. We thank all of the chapter authors for their excellent contributions. It is through their efforts that the field will thrive. Our appreciation also is expressed to Leonard Pace, formerly of Plenum Press, for his encourage ment and helpful comments in the development of the text."
Social systems are among the most complex known. This poses particular problems for those who wish to understand them. The complexity often makes analytic approaches infeasible and natural language approaches inadequate for relating intricate cause and effect. However, individual- and agent-based computational approaches hold out the possibility of new and deeper understanding of such systems. Simulating Social Complexity examines all aspects of using agent- or individual-based simulation. This approach represents systems as individual elements having each their own set of differing states and internal processes. The interactions between elements in the simulation represent interactions in the target systems. What makes these elements "social" is that they are usefully interpretable as interacting elements of an observed society. In this, the focus is on human society, but can be extended to include social animals or artificial agents where such work enhances our understanding of human society. The phenomena of interest then result (emerge) from the dynamics of the interaction of social actors in an essential way and are usually not easily simplifiable by, for example, considering only representative actors. The introduction of accessible agent-based modelling allows the representation of social complexity in a more natural and direct manner than previous techniques. In particular, it is no longer necessary to distort a model with the introduction of overly strong assumptions simply in order to obtain analytic tractability. This makes agent-based modelling relatively accessible to a range of scientists. The outcomes of such models can be displayed and animated in ways that also make them more interpretable by experts and stakeholders. This handbook is intended to help in the process of maturation of this new field. It brings together, through the collaborative effort of many leading researchers, summaries of the best thinking and practice in this area and constitutes a reference point for standards against which future methodological advances are judged. This book will help those entering into the field to avoid "reinventing the wheel" each time, but it will also help those already in the field by providing accessible overviews of current thought. The material is divided into four sections: Introductory, Methodology, Mechanisms, and Applications. Each chapter starts with a very brief section called 'Why read this chapter?' followed by an abstract, which summarizes the content of the chapter. Each chapter also ends with a section of 'Further Reading' briefly describing three to eight items that a newcomer might read next. " |
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