This lesson is designed to teach students that behavior is a trait shaped by both genes and the environment. Students will read a scientific paper, discuss and generate predictions based on the ideas and data therein, and model the relationships between genes, the environment, and behavior. The lesson is targeted to meet the educational goals of…

Since 1992 C. J. Rogers has lived with wolves and studied their societies at Raised by Wolves, a licensed, nonprofit research sanctuary situated in a high valley of New Mexico's Zuni Mountains, not far from the Four Corners. Rogers, who has taught at Northeastern Illinois University and Western New Mexico University, holds doctorates in both…

Research on human and animal behavior has long emphasized its hierarchical structure--the divisibility of ongoing behavior into discrete tasks, which are comprised of subtask sequences, which in turn are built of simple actions. The hierarchical structure of behavior has also been of enduring interest within neuroscience, where it has been widely…

Food preferences set by delayed visceral effects facilitate memory research and predator control. (Author/RH)

This study uses the ethological approach of seeking species characteristics and phylogenetic continuities in an investigation of human behavior. Among primates a striking consistency is the presence of some form of dominance hierarchy in many species. The present study examines peer group dominance hierarchies as they are perceived by children in…

Reviews four texts and compilations of papers in an effort to assess the relevance of animal behavior studies to anthropology and sociology. Concludes that where a basic element of behavior occurs widely throughout the animal kingdom, especially in the higher mammals and primates, we may expect to find a manifestation in man." Limitations of the…

Describes experiments in conditioning, sensory processes, social behavior, imprinting, innate preferences for color and form, and discrimination learning suitable for secondary school students. Mealworms, crickets, and chicks are used as subjects. (AL)

Progress is now being made toward ascertaining the specific effects of rearing conditions on brain and behavior, the properties of the environment that contribute to these effects, and the developmental periods in which brain tissue is most sensitive to environmental modification. (Author/RH)

Proteins isolated from the brain and used as drugs can improve and apparently even transfer mental states and behavior. Much of the pioneering work and recent research with humans and animals is reviewed and crucial questions that are being posed about the psychologically active peptides are related. (BT)

A conference on whether food and nutrients affect human behavior was held on November 9, 1982 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Various research studies on this topic are reviewed, including the effects of food on brain biochemistry (particularly sleep) and effects of tryptophane as a pain reducer. (JN)

Students of ethology are often confused about the validity of arguments based on comparisons of animal and human behavior. The problem can be dealt with purely theoretically or through observational or experimental studies of human behavior. Some results of using these two methods are described and discussed. (Author/MA)

Discusses research relating to the effects of hormones, neurophysiology, and the environment on animal and human aggression. Indicates that the interactions of biological, psychological and social processes in the development of human aggressiveness should constitute one of the principal frontiers for science in the next two decades. (JR)