The Cognitive Animal: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition

by Marc Bekoff

The fifty-seven original essays in this book provide a comprehensive overview of the interdisciplinary field of animal cognition. The contributors include cognitive ethologists, behavioral ecologists, experimental and developmental psychologists, behaviorists, philosophers, neuroscientists, computer scientists and modelers, field biologists, and others. The diversity of approaches is both philosophical and methodological, with contributors demonstrating various degrees of acceptance or disdain for such terms as "consciousness" and varying degrees of concern for laboratory experimentation versus naturalistic research. In addition to primates, particularly the nonhuman great apes, the animals discussed include antelopes, bees, dogs, dolphins, earthworms, fish, hyenas, parrots, prairie dogs, rats, ravens, sea lions, snakes, spiders, and squirrels. The topics include (but are not limited to) definitions of cognition, the role of anecdotes in the study of animal cognition, anthropomorphism, attention, perception, learning, memory, thinking, consciousness, intentionality, communication, planning, play, aggression, dominance, predation, recognition, assessment of self and others, social knowledge, empathy, conflict resolution, reproduction, parent-young interactions and caregiving, ecology, evolution, kin selection, and neuroethology.

Genres: Science, Animals, Psychology, Nature, Evolution, Nonfiction

482 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2002

About the author

Please see http://www.literati.net/authors/marc-... and you can read my essays for Psychology Today here -- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/a... --

Reviews

[Valeer Damen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking, although some essays are a bit marred by the general bias still espoused by many researchers to the effect that 'of course we would not dream of stating that animals actually think and feel' when their results actually seem to point that way.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, comprehensive anthology of case studies dealing with Animal cognition. Written by specialists in the field, but very readable and makes a good introduction to the subject.