I have, out of the blue, become really interested in the study of animal behaviour- help!?

Question

Hi, I have a degree that's totally unrelated (Archaeology), and I'm now 22 in a full-time job.

But all of a sudden, and I don't know why, I've become reeeeeally fascinated by animal behaviour, spefically how they react to their environment and the level of their self-awareness. I don't know why this is, as it literally came about whilst I was observing my cats and it's lit a fire in my belly.

What's a good place for me to start researching as a beginner? Are there any relevant publications/ weeklies? Can you do serious, scientific courses in to animal behaviour? Where abouts in the UK is renowned for this, and could I go straight in at postgrad level with some background reading?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Welcome to the crazy ethology folks! Don't worry, it's obsessive, but fun nonetheless.

As for your question, it of course depends a bit on (a) what type of publications you want to read your way into, (b) whether you have a particular animal group you find interesting, (b) whether the question of self-consciousness is also interesting for you from a philosophical side, etc.etc.etc.

Given you already have a university degree, I think it is safe to assume you are willing and able to work yourself into technical papers and books. So, let me give you a few ideas what might be helpful.

First, the two journals you might want to check out at your local university/college library are Animal Behaviour and Behaviour. Both will give you a good overview as to what is going on in behavioral biology today. You might find some interesting papers there that will lead you to further publications regarding questions you are interested in.

As for self-consciousness (I use the term synonymously with self-awareness, but there is some disagreement over terminology), a good journal would be Cognition. Again, might give yu a good overview and a start to work on some more specific questions.

These publications are strictly technical, so beware of the jargon!

Of course it might help to get some intro level information, so a good textbook might be helpful:

Alcock, John. "Animal Behavior" (Sinauer). I think the 8th edition is the current one.

Someone was mentioning Niko Tinbergen, and I think Tinbergen is indeed a must for anyone interested in animal behavior. I would suggest two texts, one a famous paper that has for the past 40 years shaped ethology, the other a book I dearly love for its insightful approach.

Tinbergen, Niko. 1963. "On Aims and Methods in Ethology," Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20: 410-433.

Tinbergen, Niko. 1951. "The Study of Instinct" Oxford: Clarendon Press.

A more recent ethological/philosophical text is

Allen, Colin and Marc Bekoff. 1997. "Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology." Cambridge: MIT Press.

Allen is a philosopher, Bekoff an ethologist who has worked a lot on canine play as an insight into fairness, morality etc. in animals.

Now the question of self-awareness, its evolution and implication for morality, along with the question of the natural history of morality, is a hot issue right now in ethology, philosophy and even theology. Let me just give you a few names of people you definately want to look up. There is neither time nor space enough here to list all the papers and books, but if you do your research I am sure you will find what you need. I will list them by field of inquiry:

Behavioral biology, psychology, theology:
Donald Griffin, Gordon Gallup, Mark Hauser, Marc Bekoff, Michael Tomasello, Brian Hare, Daniel Povinelli, Frans de Waal, Diana Reiss, Lori Marino, Josep Call, Lauren Wispe

Evolutionary Biology
Charles Darwin, of course!

Philosophy
David Hume, Imannuel Kant, Adam Smith, John Searle, Richard Sorabji, Karsten Stueber, Richard Joyce, David Chalmers, Daniel Dennett

Theology
Aside from the classics (Augustine, Aquinas etc.) some of the contemporary thinkers involved in the question of animal mind and morality (often by ways of theological anthropology) are: Karl Rahner, Reinhold Niebuhr, Wolfhart Pannenberg (not my favorite, but very, very insightful...), Ulrich Lüke, Philip Hefner, Noreen Herzfeld (works on artificial intelligence, but theologically it's a related issue), Francisco Ayala (who is actually an evolutionary geneticist), Nancy Murphy.

That should get you started. If you find some of the texts interesting and you have more questions, please drop me a note. I'd be happy to help you further in any way possible.

Answer 2

Hi, I also am really interested in the study of animal behaviour, as you mentioned your cats there is a book that I would recommend, it is called The cat's mind by Bruce Fogle. I've read it (and I've also read The Dog's mind by Bruce Fogle) and it is really interesting!

Regarding courses there's Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester, they do an Animal Behaviour Course (part time).

You can also do a search for Animal Behaviour courses on the Internet, if you want to do a home study course I know there are some.

I hoped this helped and good luck!
I hope you find what you want.

Answer 3

Are you looking to study a specific animal group, or animals as a whole?
You might want to see if you want to narrow down your research to, say, cats or dogs, birds, whatever, first - and then go from there.
There are plenty of scientific journals that publish research articles on the subject, but knowing first what you're specifically interested in will help narrow down your search.
And yes - there are serious, scientific courses on animal behavior. One of the elective classes I took for my 40 hours of Bio Credit was Animal Behavior. The only crappy thing about it was since it was generic ("ANIMAL") it was sort of here and there with regard to classes/species, etc., but it was still very interesting.
Regardless - I don't know of any specialized programs that focus entirely on Animal Behavior but I've also never truly looked into it (I'm interested as well, but I do my own research on my own time). I will say, however, that the course had pre-reqs that included animal diversity and basic morphology/anatomy knowledge to help you understand and so you weren't left like "WTF is the Hypothalamus," etc., and it was a very, very difficult course. I would honestly say it was the most difficult course in my entire undergrad bio career.

Answer 4

You might look into books on Ethology, or anything by Niko Tinbergen. As to where you could go, I'm not sure, but I would expect most major unis to have at least a basic set of courses that deal with behavior. It's a truly fascinating field, especially when you start matching animal behaviors with your own; anthropromorphism may not be entirely inaccurate..

Answer 5

I know running away might make you happy now, but I don't think it will solve your problems forever. Yeah, you'll get a clean start and meet new people, but you will still struggle internally. The main problem here is not your dad or your society or your family- it's you. You are afraid to talk to people and let your opinions be heard. That is the problem you need to confront before anything else. I suggest going to a therapist- not because I think you're crazy at all, but because therapists provide people like us with someone to talk to. You are afraid to talk to your family and don't have friends to listen to you either. So go to a therapist once a week, and tell them everything. Eventually you will feel comfortable enough to talk to others, and you will gain confidence in yourself. You need to first work on being a stronger person. Learn to make your own decisions and to be proud of them. Learn to live by your own rules. Running away won't teach you any of those things. Leaving home isn't a bad thing, but don't do it for the wrong reasons. Don't leave thinking that living by yourself will solve all your problems. It's a long and difficult path to live alone, to start afresh. Don't leave behind people who love you. Your dad may be a horrible person, but I'm sure he cares about you in his own way. He may have qualities that you don't like, but he has treated you well and cared for you for your whole life. Don't throw that away. The very least thing you can do to show him gratitude is to talk to him about these things. So learn to talk to people about things that matter to you, and your problems will be solved. Don't make hasty decisions that you may regret later on in life. Think this through. Think about all the pros and all the consequences. Good luck.

Answer 6

I would recommend anything by Desmond Morris as a start, especially The Naked Ape that explains humans as an animal. Also study self awareness. Birds will 'instinctively' attack their image in a mirror as a rival while chimps will use the mirror as a tool to primp and preen.

Answer 7

I am a teacher of middle school students. I fell into this while researching a students science fair project possibilities. The best actual place to get some training (other than universities) is at zoos. It seems that they train their keepers to understand various behaviors that are expected and changes of behavior are indicative of problems. My zoo - Los Angeles - holds yearly classes in concert with UCLA on primate behavior.

Here is the book I bought to learn a bit about creating ethograms and viewing primates:

http://www.amazon.com/Primate-Behavior-Exercise-Workbook-Paterson/dp/1577661656/ref=pd_sim_b_shvl_img_1/103-6900426-3627001

So check out your local zoo, and ask to meet with one of their keepers.. or perhaps they have an education department.

good luck to you!