BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

ETHOLOGY 1)

The science of animal behavior.

Ethology brought very significant contributions to the general store of systemic concepts and models, the most important listed hereafter:

- A better understanding, by comparison, of human perception, by demonstrating that the observation windows of different animals are far from being similar to those of men. Perception is conditioned by sensory sensibility (for example to infrared or ultraviolet radiation, or capacity to perceive or not some sounds, etc.). It also depend on size, stature and position, which is important when comparing children and adults perceptions.

- A keener understanding of living systems' individual as well as collective interrelations with their respective correlated environment. See f. ex. "stigmergy".

- More recently, by the study of social insects, through the understanding of the nature, workings and implications of communication for sociality in living beings and, possibly in the future, of societies of artificial organisms.

The most important school of ethology has been the German one (Bibliography: von UEXKÜLL, KRISZAT, LORENZ, EIBL-EIBESFELDT). Insect ethology is recently more of an Anglo-saxon concern (T. SEELEY, J and C. GOULD, E.O. WILSON, W.C. ALLEE, D. GORDON). African primates have been studied by J GOODALL, D. FOSSEY, F DE WAAL and others.

According to REVENTLOW (1973)- as quoted by S. BRIER (1992, p. 75): "As ethology demands that animal and human behavior be examined in relation to their biotopes and at all times strives to understand psychological phenomena on the basis of the relationships between stimuli, motivation and behavior, ethology becomes one of the broadest psychological theories in existence-and certainly the most ecologically oriented

"In lieu of "theories", it would possibly be better to speak about " observation tools". Indeed, Brier makes the point quite clearly in his paper.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]


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