The Ecology of Aggression


Book Description

Adopting a unique situation-oriented perspective, this book studies the occurence and control of aggression on the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of physical and social ecologies. The wide ranging viewpoint clarifies important aspects of all forms of aggression to provide psychologists, sociologists, and criminologists with a powerful aid for treatment and intervention techniques.




Interspecific Competition in Birds


Book Description

Provides a current, critical review of the importance of interspecific competition, considering the evolutionary effects of interspecific competition, its importance in structuring communities, and influence on the traits of individual species.




The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians


Book Description

Consisting of more than six thousand species, amphibians are more diverse than mammals and are found on every continent save Antarctica. Despite the abundance and diversity of these animals, many aspects of the biology of amphibians remain unstudied or misunderstood. The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians aims to fill this gap in the literature on this remarkable taxon. It is a celebration of the diversity of amphibian life and the ecological and behavioral adaptations that have made it a successful component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Synthesizing seventy years of research on amphibian biology, Kentwood D. Wells addresses all major areas of inquiry, including phylogeny, classification, and morphology; aspects of physiological ecology such as water and temperature relations, respiration, metabolism, and energetics; movements and orientation; communication and social behavior; reproduction and parental care; ecology and behavior of amphibian larvae and ecological aspects of metamorphosis; ecological impact of predation on amphibian populations and antipredator defenses; and aspects of amphibian community ecology. With an eye towards modern concerns, The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians concludes with a chapter devoted to amphibian conservation. An unprecedented scholarly contribution to amphibian biology, this book is eagerly anticipated among specialists.




Information Processing in Social Insects


Book Description

Claire Detrain, Jean-Louis Deneubourg and Jacques Pasteels Studies on insects have been pioneering in major fields of modern biology. In the 1970 s, research on pheromonal communication in insects gave birth to the dis cipline of chemical ecology and provided a scientific frame to extend this approach to other animal groups. In the 1980 s, the theory of kin selection, which was initially formulated by Hamilton to explain the rise of eusociality in insects, exploded into a field of research on its own and found applications in the under standing of community structures including vertebrate ones. In the same manner, recent studies, which decipher the collective behaviour of insect societies, might be now setting the stage for the elucidation of information processing in animals. Classically, problem solving is assumed to rely on the knowledge of a central unit which must take decisions and collect all pertinent information. However, an alternative method is extensively used in nature: problems can be collectively solved through the behaviour of individuals, which interact with each other and with the environment. The management of information, which is a major issue of animal behaviour, is interesting to study in a social life context, as it raises addi tional questions about conflict-cooperation trade-oft's. Insect societies have proven particularly open to experimental analysis: one can easily assemble or disassemble them and place them in controllable situations in the laboratory.




Animal Conflict


Book Description

In the past twenty years there have been many new developments in the study of animal behaviour: for example, more sophisticated methods of neurophysiology; more precise techniques for assessing hormonal levels; more accurate methods for studying animals in the wild; and, on the functional side, the growth of behavioural ecology with its use of optimality theory and game theory. In addition, there has been a burgeoning number of studies on a wide range of species. The study of aggression has benefited greatly from these develop ments; this is reflected in the appearance of a number of specialized texts, both on behavioural ecology and on physiology and genetics. However, these books have often been collections of papers by spe cialists for specialists. No one book brings together for the non specialist all the diverse aspects of aggression, including behavioural ecology, genetics, development, evolution and neurophysiology. Neither has there been a comparative survey dealing with all these aspects. Therefore one of our aims in writing this book was to fill in these gaps. Another of our aims was to put aggression into context with respect to other aspects of an animal's lifestyle and in particular to other ways in which animals deal with conflicts of interest. Aggressive behaviour does not occur in a biological vacuum. It both influences and is influenced by the animal's ecological and social environment, so we consider both the complex antecedent conditions in which aggressive behaviour occurs, and its ramifying consequences in the ecosystem.




Studying Human Behavior


Book Description

In this volume, Longino enters into the complexities of human behavioural research, a domain still dominated by the age-old debate of 'nature versus nurture'. Longino focuses on how scientists study it, specifically sexual behaviour and aggression, and asks what can be known about human behaviour through empirical investigation.




Working with Aggressive Youth


Book Description

Angry, aggressive, or violent youth threaten the well-being of themselves, other children, and caregivers in any setting. They may need medicztion and therapy to treat their problems, but they also must learn how to control negative thoughts and emotions without turning to aggressive behaviour. Professionals will learn how to build good relationships with youth and teach them pro-social behaviour. Also offered are sample treatment plans to address both proactive and reactive aggression in youth and guidelines on how to promote a safe environment for the children in your care. Included is a social skills chart that can be used as an easy reference guide by caregivers as they teach new skills to replace old aggressive behaviours. The chart shows which skills work best with specific types of behaviours.




The Goodness Paradox


Book Description

“A fascinating new analysis of human violence, filled with fresh ideas and gripping evidence from our primate cousins, historical forebears, and contemporary neighbors.” —Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature We Homo sapiens can be the nicest of species and also the nastiest. What occurred during human evolution to account for this paradox? What are the two kinds of aggression that primates are prone to, and why did each evolve separately? How does the intensity of violence among humans compare with the aggressive behavior of other primates? How did humans domesticate themselves? And how were the acquisition of language and the practice of capital punishment determining factors in the rise of culture and civilization? Authoritative, provocative, and engaging, The Goodness Paradox offers a startlingly original theory of how, in the last 250 million years, humankind became an increasingly peaceful species in daily interactions even as its capacity for coolly planned and devastating violence remains undiminished. In tracing the evolutionary histories of reactive and proactive aggression, biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham forcefully and persuasively argues for the necessity of social tolerance and the control of savage divisiveness still haunting us today.




Model Systems in Behavioral Ecology


Book Description

A key way that behavioral ecologists develop general theories of animal behavior is by studying one species or a closely related group of species--''model systems''--over a long period. This book brings together some of the field's most respected researchers to describe why they chose their systems, how they integrate theoretical, conceptual, and empirical work, lessons for the practice of the discipline, and potential avenues of future research. Their model systems encompass a wide range of animals and behavioral issues, from dung flies to sticklebacks, dolphins to African wild dogs, from foraging to aggression, territoriality to reproductive suppression. Model Systems in Behavioral Ecology offers an unprecedented ''systems'' focus and revealing insights into the confluence of personal curiosity and scientific inquiry. It will be an invaluable text for behavioral ecology courses and a helpful overview--and a preview of coming developments--for advanced researchers. The twenty-five chapters are divided into four sections: insects and arachnids, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals. In addition to the editor, the contributors include Geoff A. Parker, Thomas D. Seeley, Naomi Pierce, Kern Reeve, Gerald S. Wilkinson, Bert Hölldobler and Flavio Roces, George W. Uetz, Michael J. Ryan and Gil Rosenthal, Judy Stamps, H. Carl Gerhardt, Barry Sinervo, Robert Warner, Manfred Milinski, David F. Westneat, Alan C. Kamil and Alan B. Bond, Paul Sherman, Jerram L. Brown, Anders Pape Møller, Marc Bekoff, Richard C. Connor, Joan B. Silk, Christopher Boesch, Scott Creel, A.H. Harcourt, and Tim Caro and M. J. Kelly.




Crimes Unspoken


Book Description

The soldiers who occupied Germany after the Second World War were not only liberators: they also brought with them a new threat, as women throughout the country became victims of sexual violence. In this disturbing and carefully researched book, the historian Miriam Gebhardt reveals for the first time the scale of this human tragedy, which continued long after the hostilities had ended. Discussion in recent years of the rape of German women committed at the end of the war has focused almost exclusively on the crimes committed by Soviet soldiers, but Gebhardt shows that this picture is misleading. Crimes were committed as much by the Western Allies – American, French and British – as by the members of the Red Army. Nor was the suffering limited to the immediate aftermath of the war. Gebhardt powerfully recounts how raped women continued to be the victims of doctors, who arbitrarily granted or refused abortions, welfare workers, who put pregnant women in homes, and wider society, which even today prefers to ignore these crimes. Crimes Unspoken is the first historical account to expose the true extent of sexual violence in Germany at the end of the war, offering valuable new insight into a key period of 20th century history.