On aims and methods of cognitive ethology

Dale Jamieson, Marc Bekoff

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

    Abstract

    In 1963 Niko Tinbergen published a paper, "On Aims and Methods of Ethology," dedicated to his friend Konrad Lorenz. This essay is a landmark in the development of ethology. Here Tinbergen defines ethology as "the biological study of behavior" and seeks to demonstrate the "close affinity between Ethology and the rest of Biology" (p. 411). Building on Huxley (1942), Tinbergen identifies four major problems of ethology: causation, survival value, evolution, and ontogeny. Concern with these problems, under different names (mechanism, adaptation, phylogeny, and development), has dominated the study of animal behavior during the last half century (Dawkins, et al. 1991; Dewsbury 1992).

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Title of host publicationAnimal Passions and Beastly Virtues
    Subtitle of host publicationReflections on Redecorating Nature
    PublisherTemple University Press
    Pages50-65
    Number of pages16
    ISBN (Print)9781592133482
    StatePublished - 2006

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
    • General Environmental Science

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