Causal Mechanisms of Behavioural Development

How does behaviour develop in humans and animals? What are the causal mechanisms governing this behaviour? These important questions are addressed in this book, first published in 1994. All the significant conceptual and empirical advances in this study of behavioural development are discussed in this volume by a wide range of scientists from different disciplines. A special feature of the approach taken here is that learning, as studied by experimental psychologists, is considered to be one process contributing to the development of the individual from conception to death. The development of the brain is also discussed in relation to behavioural processes. The book is dedicated to Jaap Kruijit, whose pioneering approach to the study of causal mechanisms of behavioural development has inspired many workers in this field. It will be an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in animal behaviour, psychology, and neuroscience.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Jaap Kruijt G. P. Baerends; Part I. Introduction: 1. The concept of cause in the study of behaviour J. A. Hogan; 2. Neurobiological analyses of behavioural mechanisms in development J. J. Bolhuis; Part II. Development of Perceptual and Motor Mechanisms: 3. The neural basis for the acquisition and production of bird song T. J. DeVoogd; 4. Sexual imprinting as a two-stage process H.-J. Bischof; 5. The influence of social interactions on the development of song and sexual preference in birds N. S. Clayton; 6. Perceptual mechanisms in imprinting and song learning C. ten Cate; 7. The development of action patterns K. C. Berridge; Part III. Development of Behaviour Systems: 8. The ontogeny of social displays: interplay between motor development, development of motivational systems and social experience T. G. G. Groothuis; 9. Psychobiology of the early mother - young relationship A. S. Fleming and E. M. Blass; 10. Development of behaviour systems J. A. Hogan; Part IV. Development of Cognition: 11. Cortical mechanisms of cognitive development M. H. Johnson; 12. Cognitive development in animals D. F. Sherry; 13. The biological building blocks of spoken language J. L. Locke; Part V. Learning and Development: 14. Behavioural change as a result of experience: toward principles of learning and development P. D. Balsam and R. Silver; 15. The varieties of learning in development: toward a common framework S. J. Shettleworth; 16. Representation development in associative systems I. P. L. McLaren; Index.

Review :
"Considering the variety of its topics, the obvious expertise of its contributors and the scope of the research they discuss (most chapters contain 50 to 100 references), it is difficult to imagine how anyone interested in behavioral development would fail to be informed by the wealth of material documented in the pages of this landmark volume." Howard S. Hoffman, Contemporary Psychology