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Chapter 26 -
Animal Behavior
- Significance
of Animal Behavior Research
- Check out this site to read what Dr. Charles Snowden, former
president of the Animal Behavior Society, has to say about the importance of
studying animal behavior.
- Animal
Instincts - The
Web site of the radio show produced in association with Cornell University's
College of Veterinary Medicine, this site includes transcripts of 1-minute
radio shows, many of which feature common behaviors of cats, dogs, and other
pets. Get to know your animal companion better!
- The
Antlion Pit Table of Contents -
Check out the QuickTime video clips of the construction of pits for hiding
in and capturing prey, of prey capture itself, and of mating behavior in
insects called ant lions. Remember that all of these behaviors are most
likely innate or at least have major innate components.
- The
Emotional Brain: Lessons from Fear Conditioning -
From the National Institute of Mental Health, this press release describes
the neural pathways involved in the conditioning of fear. It's especially
interesting because fear conditioning is a human behavior; when it goes
awry, a variety of anxiety disorders may arise.
- Gene
That Influences Fearfulness in Mice Detected
- This press release from the National
Institute of Mental Health reminds us that learned behaviors have important
genetic components.
- Communication
with Parrots - Dr. Irene Pepperberg
has been working with Alex, an African gray parrot, to learn more about
language. Pepperberg's work has provided important information about
language acquisition in nonhumans and also has the potential to help us
develop new ways to work with children with language disabilities. This is
an excellent site!
- Whale
Songs - The National Marine
Fisheries brings you five beautiful sound clips of whales. What do you think
the function of these sounds are?
- Why
Do Birds Sing? -
From the Lund University Department of Ecology, these pages provide a
summary of research on the ecology and mating behavior of the great reed
warbler. The site also includes a discussion of the role of song as well as
sound clips. There is enough discussion of the research methods to give
laypeople a feeling for how behavioral research is conducted in the field.
- Humans
and Pheromones - This article
discusses the controversy over whether or not humans have the ability to
detect pheromones.
- Evolutionary
Psychology: A Primer - A fairly
technical paper by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, co-directors of the Center
for Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara,
explains the basic principles behind evolutionary psychology, the study of
the evolution of complex human behaviors within a Darwinian framework. This
is a controversial area of study but a fascinating one.
- Sexual
Selection and the Biology of Beauty -
This paper by Anders Pape Moller, an expert on the behavior of barn swallows
(among other things), addresses the question of whether or not "(h)uman
beauty standards reflect our evolutionary distant and recent past and
emphasize the role of health assessment in mate choice." It’s a good
example of evolutionary psychology in practice.
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