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highly sophisticated philosophy
This book is a highly sophisticated approach to mechanistic philosophy of biology, historically important but still highly useful and inspiring.

Out of date - historical use only
The contents of the book contain numerous fallacies and ought be of interest only to historians. ... Read more

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The authors of this book, a philosopher and a cognitive ethologist, approach their work from the perspective that many animals have minds and rich cognitive lives. They also believe that arguments about evolutionary continuity are as applicable to the study of animal minds and brains as they are to comparative studies of kidneys, stomachs, and hearts. Cognitive ethologists study the comparative, evolutionary, and ecological aspects of the mental phenomena of animals. Philosophy can provide cognitive ethology with an analytical basis for the attribution and assessment of cognition to nonhuman animals. Cognitive ethology can help philosophy to explain mentality in naturalistic terms by providing data on the evolution of cognition. The heart of the book is this reciprocal relationship between philosophical theories of mind and empirical studies of animal cognition. All theoretical discussion is carefully tied to case studies, particularly in the areas of antipredator vigilance and social play, where there are many points of contact with philosophical discussions of intentionality and representation. The authors make specific suggestions about how to use philosophical theories of intentionality as starting points for empirical investigation of animal minds. They also discuss cognitive ethology's relevance to questions of ethics, as our beliefs about the mental lives of animals strongly affect our attitudes toward their moral status. ... Read more

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Kinds of Intelligence
Starting from the concept of biological continuity Allen and Bekoff argue that "lower" animals may be intelligent too. One might distinguish a variety of intelligences including: i. purely reactive (reflex, radical behaviorist, table lookup) learning by evolutionary change only (learning being radically separated from performance system) ii. finite state machines (modifiable memory,
possibly with explicit world model/representation, possibly with
a time sense) iii. cooperative/social (communicative, specialists, language users)iv. conscious (self monitoring and
self modifying, possibly explicit representation of goals, possible utility/value model with possible value change), etc.
Allen and Bekoff note that "'lower' animals can outperform 'higher' animals on some cognitive tasks", what constitutes
superior intelligence depends upon the niche that the animal
occupies, it is not universal.I especially liked the chapter
on consciousness which the authors relate to the capacity to
detect misinformation and illusion.

A great book (and a retraction of previous review)
When I read Species of Mind for the first time it was my introduction to the topic of cognitive ethology and I had no background at all in this area. I wrote a review here indicating that I did not get anything out of it. I would like to retract that. What would have been more accurate would have been that I did not appreciate it because *I* was not prepared for it. I have since read extensively on the topic and have all of Marc Bekoff's books. I now appreciate the book and consider it indispensable. Allen and Bekoff are leading researchers in this field and this book is highly important if you want to get solid current information in cognitive ethology. I HIGHLY recommend this book and retract my previous inaccurate review.

...P>James O'Heare... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The definitive work on human ethology
I might be slightly biased having studied under Eibl-Eibesfeldt personally, but this is the definitive work written on the subject written by the disciplines founder.
The protege of Konrad Lorenz, Eibl-Eibesfeldt's credentials as
a student of animal behavior are beyond reproach. True the book is a large tome but it is never dull and very approachable and well illustrated.. I recommend this book for students of many disciplines including biologists, anthropologists and psychologists. It offers a unique study of the human condition from a perspective most are unfamiliar with.
A great contribution to science by, in my opinion, one of the greatest minds of this century. ... Read more

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Product Description

The third edition of Animal Behaviour continues to provide a balanced and integrated introductory treatment of the entire domain of animal behaviour for Biology and Psychology students. The text assumes no previous knowledge and has been designed to guide new students with a diversity of backgrounds through a logical sequence of study to a full understanding of complex behavioural patterns.

Customer Reviews (2)

Fast Sevice
Fast service. The book was delivered in 2 weeks and was as described by the vendor

Questions from Professor
Dear Colleague:

I am looking for an appropriate textbook of animal ethology for Veterinary student in Korea.I am not sure the properties of this book. Is this recommendable to text of 1 credit?I appreciate yourcomments. With regards,

Taekyun Shin, VMD, Associate Professor(anatomyand ethology) of Vet Medicine, Cheju national University, Korea ... Read more

Product Description
Modern farm environments are profoundly different from the natural habitats of the ancestors of today's farm animals, and through genetic selection, the appearance and behaviour of the animals themselves have also changed. However, the legacy of the ancestors is still obvious, and some apparently bizarre actions are only possible to understand in the light of the evolutionary history of the species. On the other hand, some of the behaviour we can observe in animals in a modern farm or in a laboratory are not part of the normal, species-specific behaviour at all. They may even indicate that the animal is under stress and that its welfare is poor. Distinguishing between these possibilities is one important goal for applied ethology. This revised and updated edition includes extended coverage of dog behaviour and human-animal interactions as well as novel and intriguing research findings. The issue of animal cognition, central to understanding welfare, has also received a more thorough examination. ... Read more

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Excellent Textbook
What a great textbook! Topics related to domestic and farm animal behavior and welfare are covered comprehensively - mating behaviors, intellectual abilities, perceptions, etc. The role of evolution and domestication on animal behavior is explained in very clear language that undergrads will have no problems understanding. No previous scientific knowledge is required of the reader. However, a college level vocabulary is required. Much of the material will be of interest to vegans and animal rights activists, because the authors have a high regard for the cognitive abilities of agricultural animals, and clearly interested in their welfare. ... Read more

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Examines the significance of animal environments in contemporary continental thought. ... Read more

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Really helpful
This is a well written and well researched book. I highly recommend it in order to become familiar with the current work on animal life that refers back to Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Deleuze, and their appropriations of Uexkull. Probably the most penetrating chapters are on Heidegger. ... Read more

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Both biologists and social scientists have much to say about human behaviour. Yet attempts to combine their approaches to provide a deeper understanding of human nature have not so far been generally successful. First published in 1987, this book offered an original way of bridging the gap between them. The key to bringing the two approaches together is, Professor Hinde suggests, to recognise crucial distinctions between levels of social complexity (individuals, interactions, relationships and groups), whilst at the same time bearing in mind that all are processes in dialectical relations with each other and with the socio-cultural structure of institutions, beliefs, values, norms and so on. Professor Hinde argues that principles derived from ethology are essential for understanding some aspects of behaviour atthe lower levels of social complexity, but have severe limitations at higher ones. This innovative approach will interest research workers, lecturers and students of psychology, biology, anthropology and sociology, as well as other readers seeking a comprehensive understanding of the nature of human social behaviour. ... Read more

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A great book by a great man
Perhaps the best text book yet written on the study of animal behavior. It is written by an individual who studied directly under Lorenz and devoted his entire life to ethology. Clear concise and methodical.
Highly recommended ... Read more

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This collection of essays was written by former students, associates, admirers, critics and friends of Donald R. Griffin -- the creator of cognitive ethology. Stimulated by his work, this volume presents ideas and experiments in the field of cognitive ethology -- the exploration of the mental experiences of animals as they behave in their natural environment during the course of their normal lives.

Cognitive Ethology discusses the possibility that animals may have abilities to experience, communicate, reason, and plan beyond those usually ascribed to them in a "black box" or "stimulus-response" interpretation of their behavior. Contributions from scientists who have been associated with or influenced by Griffin offer a lively array of views, some disparate from one another and some especially selected to present approaches contrary to his.
... Read more

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This is a guide to world animal behaviour. Presenting a balance of historical and current terminology, the authors provide definitions of terms central to ethological writing. Aditionally, they devote special attention to terms from related disciplines, particularly evolutionary biology, physiology, ecology and sociobiology. Most of the entries include descriptive examples and each term is cross-referenced to other related entries. ... Read more

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This is a groundbreaking work in the field of ethology—the zoological study of animal behavior—which was rapidly gaining ground in the 1960s when this collection was first published. These specially commissioned papers bought together studies of monkeys and apes from both the laboratory and the field. All of the contributors had been trained in the Lorenz/Tinbergen school, and include Jane Goodall, R. Hinde and Y. Spencer-Booth, M. Moynihan, T. E. Rowell, Caroline Loizos, John Sparks, Wolfgang Wickler, and J. van Hooff. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Early classic collection of essays on primate behavior
Desmond Morris became famous with his "The Naked Ape." However, despite the mass popularity of that work, Morris was also a fine student of animal behavior. This edited volume, published in 1969, is an early classic in the study of primate behavior/ethology.

The various essays lay out the "state of the art" as of the late 1960s. Morris begins the book with an essay on the subject, to set the stage for the set of essays in this volume. J. A. R. A. M. van Hooff has a chapter on facial displays of apes and catarrhine monkeys; Wolfgang Wickler authored a chapter on socio-sexual signals among primates; John Sparks contributed a piece on grooming behavior in primates; Christine Loizos wrote a fine essay on play behavior in primates.

Other chapters: Thelma Rowell on social organization in primates; Hinde and Spencer-Booth on social companions' effects on mother-infant relations in rhesus monkeys; Jane Goodall on mother-offspring relations in Chimpanzees.

For its time, this was a nice volume, assessing the current status of primate behavior. I enjoyed revisiting this work, which I read so many years ago.
... Read more

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Like speech, the species-specific vocalizations or calls of non-human primates mediate social interactions, convey important emotional information, and in some cases refer to objects and events in the caller's environment. These functional similarities suggest that the selective pressures which shaped primate vocal communication are similar to those that influenced the evolution of human speech. As such, investigating the perception and production of vocalizations in extant non-human primates provides one avenue for understanding the neural mechanisms of speech and for illuminating the substrates underlying the evolution of human language.Primate Audition: Ethology and Neurobiology is the first book to bridge the epistemological gap between primate ethologists and auditory neurobiologists. It brings together the knowledge of world experts on different aspects of primate auditory function. Leading ethologists, comparative psychologists, and neuroscientists who have developed new experimental approaches apply their methods to a variety of issues dealing with primate vocal behavior and the neurobiology of the primate auditory system.With the advent of new signal processing techniques and the exponential growth in our knowledge of primate behavior, the time has arrived for a neurobiological investigation of the primate auditory system based on principles derived from ethology. The synthesis of ethological and neurobiological approaches to primate vocal behavior presented in Primate Audition: Ethology and Neurobiology is likely to yield the richest understanding of the acoustic and neural bases of primate audition and possibly shed light on the evolutionary precursors to speech. ... Read more