Growing Points Ethology

This 1976 volume is a collection of essays by some of the most prominent and active ethologists.

P. P. G. Bateson (Author), R. A. Hinde (Author)

9780521290869, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 October 1976

558 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm, 0.81 kg

First published in 1976, this volume is a collection of essays by some of the most prominent and active ethologists. It is organized into four sections: motivation and perception, function and evolution, development, and human social relationships. The first three sections reflect the four questions which are basic to ethology: what were the immediate causes of a behaviour pattern; what is its biological function; how did it evolve; and how did it develop in the individual? The last section involves questions of all four types. The sections are introduced and linked by editorials and the book concludes with an important statement on asking the right questions. The essays are forward looking and identify areas of importance for the study of behaviour. The volume is a source of formative ideas for students, their teachers and research workers in a wide variety of disciplines in the biological psychological and social sciences.

List of contributors
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Part I. Motivation and Perception: Editorial: 1
1. Hierarchical organisation: a candidate principle for ethology Richard Dawkins
2. Form and function on the temporal organisation of behaviour D. J. McFarland
3. Attentional processes and animal behaviour R. J. Andrew
4. Dynamic boundaries of patterned behaviour: interaction and self-organization John C. Fentress
5. Sound production and perception in birds as related to the general principles of pattern perception W. H. Thorpe and J. Hall-Craggs
Editorial: 2
Part II. Function and Evolution: Editorial: 3
6. Evolutionary rules and primate societies T.H. Clutton-Brock and P. H. Harvey
7. Social organization, communication and graded signals: the chimpanzee and the gorilla Peter Marler
8. Kin selection in lions and evolution B. C. R. Bertram
9. The social function of intellect N. K. Humphrey
Editorial: 4
Part III. Development: Editorial: 5
10. The place of genetics in the study of behaviour Aubrey Manning
11. Stages in the early behavioural development of altricial young of selected species of non-primate mammals Jay S. Rosenblatt
12. The study of animal play M. J. A. Simpson
13. Rules and reciprocity in behavioural development P. P. G. Bateson
Editorial: 6
Part IV. Human Social Relationships: Editorial: 7
14. Growing points in human ethology: another link between ethology and the social sciences? N.G. Blurton Jones
15. Towards understanding relationships: dynamic stability R. A. Hinde and Joan Stevenson-Hinde
16. How far do early differences in mother-child relations affect later development? Judy Dunn
17. Does ethology throw any light on human behaviour? Peter B. Medawar
18. Ethology in a changing world N. Tinbergen
Editorial: 8
Conclusion - on asking the right questions
Index.

Subject Areas: Behavioural theory [Behaviourism JMAL]