Interpretation And Explanation In The Study Of Animal Behavior PDF Download

Author: Marc Bekoff
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Author: Ph.D. Bekoff
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429713657
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
People have long been fascinated, not just by the behaviour of non-human animals, but by the problem of how this behaviour is to be interpreted and explained. This is one of two volumes of original essays on the cognitive and emotional dimensions of non-human minds and the relationship of natural minds to behaviour. The essays also address questions concerning the meaning and significance of consciousness; animal intelligence, awareness and emotions; behavioural plasticity, flexibility and constraints on understanding animal minds; and the structure of explanation in the study of behaviour.

Author: Marian Stamp Dawkins
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191037443
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
This book introduces the reader to the power of observation before, and sometimes instead of, experimental manipulation in the study of animal behaviour. It starts with simple and easily accessible methods suitable for student projects, before going on to demonstrate the possibilities that now exist for far more sophisticated analyses of observational data. At a time when animal welfare considerations are attracting political as well as scientific debate, the potential for non-intrusive studies on animals is being increasingly recognized. Observation emerges as a valuable alternative approach, often yielding highly informative results in situations (such as on zoos, farms or for wild animals) where more invasive experimental techniques would be undesirable, unethical or just plain impossible. However, to justify its place alongside experimentation as a rigorous scientific method, observation needs to be just as disciplined and systematic and have just as much attention paid to project design in the way that observations are made and recorded. Observing Animal Behaviour takes the reader through all these stages: from the initial observations, to the formulation of hypotheses, and their subsequent testing with further systematic observations. Although designed principally as a companion text for advanced undergraduate and students taking courses in animal behaviour, this accessible text will be essential reading for anyone wanting to study animal behaviour using observational methods rather than experimentation, and assumes no previous knowledge of animals, statistics or scientific method. It will be of particular relevance and use to those professional researchers and consultants in the behavioural sciences who seek a compact but comprehensive introduction to the quantitative observation of animal behaviour.

Author: Tristram D. Wyatt
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019102094X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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How animals behave is crucial to their survival and reproduction. The application of new molecular tools such as DNA fingerprinting and genomics is causing a revolution in the study of animal behaviour, while developments in computing and image analysis allow us to investigate behaviour in ways never previously possible. By combining these with the traditional methods of observation and experiments, we are now learning more about animal behaviour than ever before. In this Very Short Introduction Tristram D. Wyatt discusses how animal behaviour has evolved, how behaviours develop in each individual (considering the interplay of genes, epigenetics, and experience), how we can understand animal societies, and how we can explain collective behaviour such as swirling flocks of starlings. Using lab and field studies from across the whole animal kingdom, he looks at mammals, butterflies, honeybees, fish, and birds, analysing what drives behaviour, and exploring instinct, learning, and culture. Looking more widely at behavioural ecology, he also considers some aspects of human behaviour. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author: Michael Joseph Ryan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780879698584
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Tinbergen asked four general questions about animal behavior-causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. In this book, authors Michael J. Ryan and Walter Wilczynski use these questions to explore basic concepts such as the function, evolution, and mechanism of behavior. Then the neurological and endocrine mechanisms of search for resources are described, using as examples foraging, sensing, finding, and deciding, orientation and migration. The biological mechanisms and evolutionary significance of social behavior are discussed through the examples of sex differences, mate choice, social bonding, cooperation, conflict, and aggression. This book provides a well-thought-out introduction to the complexity of animal behavior that will appeal to advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional scientists in other fields.

Author: Dr. Jens Krause
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199679045
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
The scientific study of networks - computer, social, and biological - has received an enormous amount of interest in recent years. However, the network approach has been applied to the field of animal behaviour relatively late compared to many other biological disciplines. Understanding social network structure is of great importance for biologists since the structural characteristics of any network will affect its constituent members and influence a range of diverse behaviours. These include finding and choosing a sexual partner, developing and maintaining cooperative relationships, and engaging in foraging and anti-predator behavior. This novel text provides an overview of the insights that network analysis has provided into major biological processes, and how it has enhanced our understanding of the social organisation of several important taxonomic groups. It brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines with the aim of providing both an overview of the power of the network approach for understanding patterns and process in animal populations, as well as outlining how current methodological constraints and challenges can be overcome. Animal Social Networks is principally aimed at graduate level students and researchers in the fields of ecology, zoology, animal behaviour, and evolutionary biology but will also be of interest to social scientists.

Author: Michael D. Breed
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128095458
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Conceptual Breakthroughs in Ethology and Animal Behavior highlights, through concise summaries, the most important discoveries and scientific revolutions in animal behavior. These are assessed for their relative impact on the field and their significance to the forward motion of the science of animal behavior. Eighty short essays capture the moment when a new concept emerged or a publication signaled a paradigm shift. How the new understanding came about is explained, and any continuing controversy or scientific conversation on the issue is highlighted. Behavior is a rich and varied field, drawing on genetics, evolution, physiology, and ecology to inform its principles, and this book embraces the wealth of knowledge that comes from the unification of these fields around the study of animals in motion. The chronological organization of the essays makes this an excellent overview of the history of animal behavior, ethology, and behavioral ecology. The work includes such topics as Darwin's role in shaping the study of animal behavior, the logic of animal contests, cognition, empathy in animals, and animal personalities. Succinct accounts of new revelations about behavior through scientific investigation and scrutiny reveal the fascinating story of this field. Similar to Dr. John Avise's Contemporary Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Genetics, the work is structured into vignettes that describe the conceptual revolution and assess the impact of the conceptual change, with a score, which ranges from 1-10, providing an assessment of the impact of the new findings on contemporary science. - Features a lively, brisk writing style and brief entries to enable easy, enjoyable access to this essential information - Includes topics that cover the range of behavioral biology from mechanism to behavioral ecology - Can also be used as supplemental material for an undergraduate animal behavior course, or as the foundational text for an upper level or graduate discussion course in advanced animal behavior

Author: Lee Alan Dugatkin
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393922332
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 10

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Book Description
Principles of Animal Behavior has long been considered the most current and engaging introduction to animal behavior. The Third Edition is now also the most comprehensive and balanced in its approach to the theoretical framework behind how biologists study behavior.

Author: Brian Hazlett
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0323159648
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Quantitative Methods in the Study of Animal Behavior covers a symposium on quantitative methods in behavior. In this book, mathematics is used in two ways – statistical approaches (techniques that describe the main patterns and variability of behavior patterns) and model building. Composed of six chapters, the book opens with a discussion on the three areas of classical ethology – social dominance, behavioral taxonomy, and behavioral variability. The following chapter focuses on the information theory as an ethological tool. In Chapter 3, application of multivariate analyses to diverse ethological data is discussed. The next part of the book discusses more in detail the animal behavioral patterns, relationships, and sequences. The book is a good reference for various fields such as biological science, marine science, and zoology. Students, teachers, scientists, and researchers interested in the aspects of statistics and patterns in animal behavior can make use of this book as a valuable resource.

Author: Nelson R Cabej
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 012415851X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 847

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Book Description
This is the first and only book, so far, to deal with the causal basis of evolution from an epigenetic view. By revealing the epigenetic "user" of the "genetic toolkit", this book demonstrates the primacy of epigenetic mechanisms and epigenetic information in generating evolutionary novelties. The author convincingly supports his theory with a host of examples from the most varied fields of biology, by emphasizing changes in developmental pathways as the basic source of evolutionary change in metazoans. - Original and thought provoking--a radically new theory that overcomes the present difficulties of the theory of evolution - Is the first and only theory that uses epigenetic mechanisms and principles for explaining evolution of metazoans - Takes an integrative approach and shows a wide range of learning