Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior, Second Edition | Date: 28 April 2011, 03:35
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Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior
By Sara J. Shettleworth
* Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages: 720
* Publication Date: 2009-12-30
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0195319842
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780195319842
Product Description:
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.
Summary: Most complete book on animal behavior I have yet encountered.
Rating: 5
As a dedicated student of animal behavior I have read a wide variety of texts on the subject but this book stands out in its seamless synthesis of data from ethology/behavioral ecology and comparative/experimental psychology. Previously a student seeking a complete picture of the field of animal behavior would be best served by reading several texts from psychology and biology but here a vast amount of information is presented in a clear, concise, and highly readable manner. The author has in one text presented material that will intrigue but not overwhelm the lay person, yet it will also challenge experts in the field to consider data they might otherwise not have considered.
I wish I could give this book 6 stars. My only regret is not having discovered this one years ago.
Summary: Fantastic
Rating: 5
This was the required textbook for a class on Animal Intelligence at the University of Kansas. Contained various examples from a broad range of animal intelligence. Illustrated quite well how little we know about intelligence.
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