Brain, Behaviour and Evolution

Brain, Behaviour and Evolution

Author: David A. Oakley

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-02-19

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1351370243

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Originally published in 1979, this book provides students with an example of the ways in which an evolutionary perspective can rephrase and clarify traditional questions and issues in psychology. The format provides the student firstly with the minimal amount of basic information in neuroanatomy, genetics and modern evolutionary theory in a form which is readily related to the remainder of the volume. The book then goes on to consider the relationships between different forms of explanation in biology, and the role of brain behaviour students in these relationships. Finally, the reader is given an opportunity to follow the reasoning which stems from a biological approach when applied to topics in human behaviour such as learning, dreaming, sleeping, exploration, anxiety, reasoning, intelligence and consciousness. Modern evolutionary biology places man in a broader context than does traditional psychology, and this new perspective reduces our tendency to view life solely from a human standpoint. The significance as well as the uniqueness of some traditionally ‘human’ attributes are challenged by this approach.


The Role of Behavior in Evolution

The Role of Behavior in Evolution

Author: Henry C. Plotkin

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 9780262161077

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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


Principles of Brain Evolution

Principles of Brain Evolution

Author: Georg F. Striedter

Publisher: Sinauer Associates Incorporated

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9780878938209

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this textbook describes some of the basic principles affecting brain evolution. The author refers to data from a wide array of vertebrates while minimizing technical jargon. Particular attention has been paid to the ways in which changes in brain structure impact function and behavior. The volume concludes with a discussion on how mammal brains diverged from other brains and how Homo sapiens evolved a very large and special brain.


Comparative Psychology

Comparative Psychology

Author: Mauricio R Papini

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-10-20

Total Pages: 717

ISBN-13: 100017770X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This revised third edition provides an up to date, comprehensive overview of the field of comparative psychology, integrating both evolutionary and developmental studies of brain and behavior. This book provides a unique combination of areas normally covered independently to satisfy the requirements of comparative psychology courses. Papini ensures thorough coverage of topics like the fundamentals of neural function, the cognitive and associative capacities of animals, the development of the central nervous system and behavior, and the fossil record of animals including human ancestors. This text includes many examples drawn from the study of human behavior, highlighting general and basic principles that apply broadly to the animal kingdom. New topics introduced in this edition include genetics, epigenetics, neurobiological, and cognitive advances made in recent years into this evolutionary-developmental framework. An essential textbook for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in comparative psychology, animal behavior, and evolutionary psychology, developmental psychology, neuroscience and behavioral biology.


The Parental Brain

The Parental Brain

Author: Michael Numan

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 517

ISBN-13: 0190848677

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Parental Brain: Mechanisms, Development, and Evolution explores the neural circuits and development of the parental brain, and the view that these circuits formed a template for the evolution of other types of prosocial bonds. The book is unique in its multilevel approach and integration of animal and human research.


In the Light of Evolution

In the Light of Evolution

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.


Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior

Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior

Author: Sara J. Shettleworth

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-04-10

Total Pages: 715

ISBN-13: 0199717818

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Dementia

Dementia

Author: Patrick McNamara Ph.D.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-03-21

Total Pages: 867

ISBN-13: 0313384355

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This three-volume collection of essays provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art clinical phenomenology, mechanisms, and treatment strategies for the major dementias—particularly the neuropsychiatric disorders involved. Dementia presents a very significant problem: a recent study by Alzheimer's Disease International estimates that the number of people with dementia worldwide will exceed 35 million by 2050. Neuropsychiatric disorders of the dementias are a major source of stress for the family members of those afflicted and a primary reason for nursing home placement, resulting in the high cost of treatment for every major dementia. Dementia is the first comprehensive treatment of neuropsychiatric approaches to both onset and treatment of the major dementias. Within these three volumes, leading experts on brain science and research explain details, developments, and emerging treatments for one of the most widespread, devastating disorders worldwide—dementia. This title provides mechanistic accounts of dementia onset that take into account neuropsychiatric disorders of dementia and reviews of the latest treatments for both patient and caregivers.