ETHOLOGY 1)
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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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