Animal Behavior: Concepts, Methods, and Applications

EMPHASIZES CONCEPTS. Animal Behavior: Concepts, Methods, and Applications, Second Edition, takes a conceptual approach that highlights the process of science and the real-world applications of animal behavior research. In an engaging, question-driven style, Shawn E. Nordell and Thomas J. Valone offer readers a clear learning progression for understanding and evaluating empirical research examples. FOCUSES ON METHODOLOGY AND THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE. Featured studies illustrate each concept and emphasize research methods, immersing students in the process of animal behavior research. The authors clearly identify the research question, hypothesis, and prediction for each featured study and then demonstrate how the methods allow the prediction to be tested. HIGHLIGHTS REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS. To help students understand the broader significance of animal behavior research, each chapter contains examples of how various people and groups are applying the concepts to societal problems and issues.

About the Author :
Shawn Nordell is Senior Associate Director for the Teaching Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Thomas Valone is Associate Chair of Biology at Saint Louis University and Director of the Reis Biological Field Station.

Review :
This is a wonderful text. It is full of clear and informative examples that highlight major concepts in animal behavior, leaving students not with a list of terms to memorize, but a better understanding of how scientists think about animal behavior more broadly. This text covers all the major theoretical topics we teach in animal behavior and illustrates each with concrete examples from current research. More than any other, this book gives students a firm grasp of hypothesis testing and experimental process. Animal Behavior, Second Edition, offers a completely different way of presenting material to students - it enables them to see 'science in action,' and thus the concepts come alive, rather than appearing as dull facts to be memorized. It is very well written and engaging, and students with even the slightest interest in the field will enjoy reading it! The focus on applications and current research is especially appealing and unique. I was very excited to read the chapter on mating systems. I found myself more and more excited as I read through explanations of why systems existed, etc. My immediate thought was 'Students will get this!'. This book is written on a level that students can easily understand, and each chapter provides relevant and interesting examples of the concepts that it covers. The 'Scientific Process' boxes in each chapter are particularly useful, as they draw students' attention to experiments, including hypotheses, methods, results, and implications.