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Ecology of Social Evolution
This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness. Answers are given to important questions such as: - Which factors favour group living in social invertebrates and vertebrates? - Are there general differences in the evolutionary forces promoting social life in social insects versus cooperatively breeding vertebrates? - Why are there only so few eusocial vertebrates? - Can relatedness within social groups be a by-product arising from the fact that neighbours are generally kin?
Dissecting Discrimination : Identifying Its Various Faces and Their Sources
This book examines the phenomenon of discrimination using a descriptive approach. Discrimination is omnipresent, whether it is people who discriminate against other people or, more recently, also machines that discriminate against people. The first part of the analysis employs decision theory on discrimination, leading to two fundamental subtypes: taste-based discrimination and statistical discrimination. The second part links taste-based discrimination to social identity theory, demonstrates that not all taste-based discrimination is ultimately statistical discrimination, and reveals the evolutionary origins of our tastes.
Cooperation in Primates and Humans : Mechanisms and Evolution
Cooperative behavior has been one of the enigmas of evolutionary theory since the days of Darwin. The contributions to this book examine the many facets of cooperative behavior in primates and humans. Some of the world’s leading experts summarize and review the state of the art of theoretical and empirical studies of cooperation. This is the first attempt to bridge the gap between parallel research activities in primatology and studies of humans. This comparative approach highlights both common principles as well as aspects of human uniqueness with respect to cooperative behavior.
Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees
From an evolutionary perspective, understanding chimpanzees offers a way of understanding the basis of human nature. This book on cognitive development in chimpanzees is the first of its kind to focus on infants reared by their own mothers within a natural setting, illustrating various aspects of chimpanzee cognition and the developmental changes that accompany them. The subjects of this book are chimpanzees of three generations inhabiting an enriched environment as well as a wild community in West Africa; and phenomena such as face recognition, concept formation, object manipulation, tool manufacture and use, decision making, learning, communication, self-awareness, intentionality, understanding others’ minds, cooperation, deception, altruism, and reciprocity observed within these groups are reported herein. Unique approaches both in the field and in the laboratory go hand in hand to illustrate the cognitive world of our closest living evolutionary relatives.
Analisi di Rasch e questionari di misura : Applicazioni in medicina e scienze sociali = Rasch analysis and measurement questionnaires: Applications in medicine and social sciences
Evaluation questionnaires are the most used tools nowadays in the field of medicine and the human sciences to evaluate variables such as disability, altruism or pain. However, clinicians are often unfamiliar with these tools. What do they really measure? How are the results to be interpreted? This book tries to answer these questions.
