The Role of Behavior in Evolution

The Role of Behavior in Evolution
Author: Henry C. Plotkin
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 1988
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780262161077

These six original essays focus on a potentially important aspect of evolutionary biology, the possible causal role of phenotypic behavior in evolution. Balancing theory with actual or potential empiricism, they provide the first full examination of this topic. Plotkin's opening chapter outlines the "conceptual minefields" that the contributors attempt to negotiate: What is an adequate theory of evolution? What is behavior and is it possible to maintain a distinction between behavior and other attributes of the phenotype? is all, or only a special subset, of behavior both a cause and a consequence of evolution? And what do the theoretical issues mean in empirical terms? He concludes that any attempt to understand the causal role of behavior in evolution requires a more complicated theoretical structure than that of orthodox neoDarwinism, a conceptualization of behavior as a distinctive set of phenotypic attributes, and the accumulation of more data. David L. Hull (Northwestern University) provides an alternative account of the evolutionary process by developing a hierarchy of replicators-interactors-lineages to replace the traditional one of genes-organisms-species. Robert N. Brandon (Duke University) also posits hierarchy as an appropriate architecture for the theoretical complexity needed to support an examination of the role of behavior in evolution. F. J. Odling-Smee (Brunei University) outlines a theoretical structure to encompass the behavior of phenotypes, concentrating on the unrestricted definition of behavior (everything that an animal does). The remaining chapters are as much concerned with evidence as with theory. Plotkin concentrates on a restricted definition of behavior (behavior that is a product of choosing intelligence), reviewing our empirical knowledge of how learning might influence evolution. R.I.M. Dunbar (University College, London) uses empirical studies of vertebrate social behavior to deal with the question of how the social systems, especially of primates, might have a causal role in species evolution. A Bradford Book

Evolution of Human Behavior

Evolution of Human Behavior
Author: Agustin Fuentes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Behavior evolution
ISBN: 9780195333589

"Author Agustin Fuentes incorporates recent innovations in evolutionary theory with emerging perspectives from genomic approaches, the current fossil record, and ethnographic studies. He examines basic assumptions about why humans behave as they do, the facts of human evolution, patterns of evolutionary change in a global environmental-temporal context, and the interconnected roles of cooperation and conflict in human history. The net result is a text that moves toward a more holistic understanding of the patterns of human evolution and a more integrated perspective on the evolution of human behavior."--BOOK JACKET.

The Behavior of Animals

The Behavior of Animals
Author: Johan J. Bolhuis
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2021-12-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119109507

The Behavior of Animals An updated view of animal behavior studies, featuring global experts The Behavior of Animals, Second Edition provides a broad overview of the current state of animal behavior studies with contributions from international experts. This edition includes new chapters on hormones and behavior, individuality, and human evolution. All chapters have been thoroughly revised and updated, and are supported by color illustrations, informative callouts, and accessible presentation of technical information. Provides an introduction to the study of animal behavior Looks at an extensive scope of topics- from perception, motivation and emotion, biological rhythms, and animal learning to animal cognition, communication, mate choice, and individuality. Explores the evolution of animal behavior including a critical evaluation of the assumption that human beings can be studied as if they were any other animal species. Students will benefit from an updated textbook in which a variety of contributors provide their expertise and global perspective in specialized areas

Behaviour, Development and Evolution

Behaviour, Development and Evolution
Author: Patrick Bateson
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2017-02-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1783742518

The role of parents in shaping the characters of their children, the causes of violence and crime, and the roots of personal unhappiness are central to humanity. Like so many fundamental questions about human existence, these issues all relate to behavioural development. In this lucid and accessible book, eminent biologist Professor Sir Patrick Bateson suggests that the nature/nurture dichotomy we often use to think about questions of development in both humans and animals is misleading. Instead, he argues that we should pay attention to whole systems, rather than to simple causes, when trying to understand the complexity of development. In his wide-ranging approach Bateson discusses why so much behaviour appears to be well-designed. He explores issues such as ‘imprinting’ and its importance to the attachment of offspring to their parents; the mutual benefits that characterise communication between parent and offspring; the importance of play in learning how to choose and control the optimal conditions in which to thrive; and the vital function of adaptability in the interplay between development and evolution. Bateson disputes the idea that a simple link can be found between genetics and behaviour. What an individual human or animal does in its life depends on the reciprocal nature of its relationships with the world about it. This knowledge also points to ways in which an animal’s own behaviour can provide the variation that influences the subsequent course of evolution. This has relevance not only for our scientific approaches to the systems of development and evolution, but also on how humans change institutional rules that have become dysfunctional, or design public health measures when mismatches occur between themselves and their environments. It affects how we think about ourselves and our own capacity for change.

Natural Behavior

Natural Behavior
Author: Burton A. Weiss
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2018-06-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1627342427

Natural Behavior provides seminal insights into the evolution of animal and human behavior for enthusiasts of Comparative Psychology and Behavioral Biology. Evolution and the behavior of the animal kingdom are discussed with new concepts on science, learning and instinct, and population phenomena. Hominization, interaction with Neanderthals, how the brain evolved, and the impact on the World are described with new views. The origin of our scientific concepts and the trend away from the egocentric position, placing humans at the center of the universe, is considered, along with the status of religion and how the fit with science is positive. This volume carefully explains evolution and the central role of behavior in natural selection. The range of animal behavior from single cells to people is covered, as are, topics like European settling of the New World first, and the effects of humans on the planet.

Evolution Driven by Organismal Behavior

Evolution Driven by Organismal Behavior
Author: Rui Diogo
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2017-03-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319475819

This book proposes a new way to think about evolution. The author carefully brings together evidence from diverse fields of science. In the process, he bridges the gaps between many different--and usually seen as conflicting--ideas to present one integrative theory named ONCE, which stands for Organic Nonoptimal Constrained Evolution. The author argues that evolution is mainly driven by the behavioral choices and persistence of organisms themselves, in a process in which Darwinian natural selection is mainly a secondary--but still crucial--evolutionary player. Within ONCE, evolution is therefore generally made of mistakes and mismatches and trial-and-error situations, and is not a process where organisms engage in an incessant, suffocating struggle in which they can't thrive if they are not optimally adapted to their habitats and the external environment. Therefore, this unifying view incorporates a more comprehensive view of the diversity and complexity of life by stressing that organisms are not merely passive evolutionary players under the rule of external factors. This insightful and well-reasoned argument is based on numerous fascinating case studies from a wide range of organisms, including bacteria, plants, insects and diverse examples from the evolution of our own species. The book has an appeal to researchers, students, teachers, and those with an interest in the history and philosophy of science, as well as to the broader public, as it brings life back into biology by emphasizing that organisms, including humans, are the key active players in evolution and thus in the future of life on this wonderful planet.

Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology

Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology
Author: Leslie Real
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 484
Release: 1994-12-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780226705958

The first book-length exploration of behavioral mechanisms in evolutionary ecology, this ambitious volume illuminates long-standing questions about cause-and-effect relations between an animal's behavior and its environment. By focusing on biological mechanisms—the sum of an animal's cognitive, neural, developmental, and hormonal processes—leading researchers demonstrate how the integrated study of animal physiology, cognitive processes, and social interaction can yield an enriched understanding of behavior. With studies of species ranging from insects to primates, the contributors examine how various animals identify and use environmental resources and deal with ecological constraints, as well as the roles of learning, communication, and cognitive aspects of social interaction in behavioral evolution. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate how the study of internal mechanistic foundations of behavior in relation to their ecological and evolutionary contexts and outcomes provides valuable insight into such behaviors as predation, mating, and dispersal. Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology shows how a mechanistic approach unites various levels of biological organization to provide a broader understanding of the biological bases of behavioral evolution.

Behaviour and Evolution

Behaviour and Evolution
Author: Jean Piaget
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1135658129

This book was first published in 1979.

Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior

Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior
Author: Sara J. Shettleworth
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 715
Release: 2010-04-10
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0199717818

How do animals perceive the world, learn, remember, search for food or mates, communicate, and find their way around? Do any nonhuman animals count, imitate one another, use a language, or have a culture? What are the uses of cognition in nature and how might it have evolved? What is the current status of Darwin's claim that other species share the same "mental powers" as humans, but to different degrees? In this completely revised second edition of Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior, Sara Shettleworth addresses these questions, among others, by integrating findings from psychology, behavioral ecology, and ethology in a unique and wide-ranging synthesis of theory and research on animal cognition, in the broadest sense--from species-specific adaptations of vision in fish and associative learning in rats to discussions of theory of mind in chimpanzees, dogs, and ravens. She reviews the latest research on topics such as episodic memory, metacognition, and cooperation and other-regarding behavior in animals, as well as recent theories about what makes human cognition unique. In every part of this new edition, Shettleworth incorporates findings and theoretical approaches that have emerged since the first edition was published in 1998. The chapters are now organized into three sections: Fundamental Mechanisms (perception, learning, categorization, memory), Physical Cognition (space, time, number, physical causation), and Social Cognition (social knowledge, social learning, communication). Shettleworth has also added new chapters on evolution and the brain and on numerical cognition, and a new chapter on physical causation that integrates theories of instrumental behavior with discussions of foraging, planning, and tool using.

Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour

Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour
Author: John H. Cartwright
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2023-05-31
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1000945642

In recent years, a new discipline has arisen that argues human behaviour can be understood in terms of evolutionary processes. Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour is an introductory level book covering evolutionary psychology, this new and controversial field. The book deals with three main areas: human reproductive behaviour, evolutionary explanations of mental disorders and the evolution of intelligence and the brain. The book is particularly suitable for the AQA-A A2 syllabus, but will also be of interest to undergraduates studying evolutionary psychology for the first time and anyone with a general interest in this new discipline.