Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Animal Thinking : Contemporary Issues in Comparative Cognition Volume 8, Hardback Book

Animal Thinking : Contemporary Issues in Comparative Cognition Volume 8 Hardback

Edited by Randolf (Freie Universitat Berlin) Menzel, Julia (German Primate Center) Fischer

Part of the Strungmann Forum Reports series

Hardback

Description

Experts from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, ecology, and evolutionary biology assess the field of animal cognition. Do animals have cognitive maps? Do they possess knowledge? Do they plan for the future? Do they understand that others have mental lives of their own?

This volume provides a state-of-the-art assessment of animal cognition, with experts from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, ecology, and evolutionary biology addressing these questions in an integrative fashion.

It summarizes the latest research, identifies areas where consensus has been reached, and takes on current controversies.

Over the last thirty years, the field has shifted from the collection of anecdotes and the pursuit of the subjective experience of animals to a rigorous, hypothesis-driven experimental approach.

Taking a skeptical stance, this volume stresses the notion that in many cases relatively simple rules may account for rather complex and flexible behaviors.

The book critically evaluates current concepts and puts a strong focus on the psychological mechanisms that underpin animal behavior.

It offers comparative analyses that reveal common principles as well as adaptations that evolved in particular species in response to specific selective pressures.

It assesses experimental approaches to the study of animal navigation, decision making, social cognition, and communication and suggests directions for future research.

The book promotes a research program that seeks to understand animals' cognitive abilities and behavioral routines as individuals and as members of social groups.

Information

Information