The Relationship Between Psychology and Physiology

A major theoretical problem for Soviety psychophysiologists, many of whom base their work on Pavlovian research and theory, is the integration of Pavlovian doctrine into contemporary knowledge from neurophysiology and the burgeoning theoretical work on cybernetics. Neither modern electrophysiological techniques nor cybernetic ideas were available to Pavlov.     

Aspects of the Social Ethology of Some Kalahari Rodents

Studied the social structure of nine rodent species in a subdesert environment by means of direct observation and live- and snaptrapping. Six social groupings — asocial, solitary dispersed; social, solitary clustered; social, communal pair; social, communal but non-colonial; social, communal with little contact; social, communal with close contact (colonial) — are recognized. Diurnal species tend to live in colonies, probably with mutual warning systems against predators. For most species the social structure exhibited is an adaptation to predation, with the effect of food requirements playing a subsidiary role. Larder hoarding is common in solitary and asocial species.     

Ethology, Zoosemiotic and Sociobiology

Current research reveals that the somewhat separate subdisciplinesethology, zoosemiotic and sociobiology function together inclarifying animal behavior. Ethology is taken as the study ofindividual behavioral patterns, zoosemiotic as the study ofanimal communication, and sociobiology as the study of socialorganization. The explosive progress in all research areas cannotbe summarized briefly but examples are drawn to provide theflavor of each subdiscipline and their interactions. Among theillustrative topics selected are behavioral development, animalorientation, signal structure, the context of communication,language, mating systems and cooperative breeding. At juncturessome possible paths toward future study are identified, butthe concluding examples point to the principal theme and prediction:the integrated study of behavior combining historically distinctapproaches—which promises to help clarify not only thelives of our fellow earthly inhabitants but our own lives aswell.     

Ethology and Primates: Some New Directions for the 1970s

Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour. N. Blurton Jones .
Social Communication and Movement: Studies of Interaction and Expression in Man and Chimpanzee. Mario Von Cranach and Ian Vine .
Primate Behavior and the Emergence of Human Culture. Jane Beckman Lancaster .
Precultural Primate Behavior. Emit W. Menzel, Jr .
Behavior of Nonhuman Primates: Modern Research Trends. Vol. IV. Allan M. Schrier and Fred Stollnitz .
Ethology and Psychiatry. Norman F. White .     

A Note on the Relationship Between Some Saxicolous Lichens and Manganese Ore in North Wales,UK

Manganese oxyhydroxides have been found deposited on the surface of the lichen Catillaria chalybeia on an altered rhodochrosite. It is suggested that the Mn was mobilised from the ore surface via surface-weathering and redeposited in the thallus. The lichen Acarospora smaragdula also grew upon the ore but showed no sign of Mn deposition. Nine further lichens and two bryophytes were also found on the ore.     

Thoughts on Qualitative Determinants in Psychology

This article attempts to deal with the determination of qualitative characteristics of psychological entities and occurrences. Some of the characteristics are of no interest to us; others are important.     

Further Assessments of the Relationship Between Jet Lag and Some of Its Symptoms

The disruption of circadian rhythms following time‐zone transitions gives rise to the syndrome of jet lag. The power of some of the symptoms of jet lag to predict the amount of jet lag measured at the same and at different times of the day has been investigated. Eleven healthy subjects were studied in an Isolation Unit for two days after a simulated flight from the UK to Beijing (8 time zones to the east). At six time‐points (08:30, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:00, and 23:00 h), the subjects recorded their jet lag, and the differences from “normal” (that is, from days in which there is no jet lag) of alertness, hunger, indigestion, concentration, motivation, and irritability. They recorded at 08:30 h the type of food they had eaten since rising at 08:00 h and, at the other times, the type of food eaten in the last three hours. Assessments were made by visual analogue scales or, in the case of type of food, by a nominal scale. Following the time‐zone transition, the adjustment of meals appeared to be complete almost immediately. Jet lag and its symptoms were present during both experimental days. Jet lag tended to rise during the course of the daytime, accompanied by falls in alertness, motivation, and concentration. Correlation matrices between jet lag and each of the other variables were produced, using lags between the variable (from up to 5 time‐points before the assessment of jet lag to 5 time‐points afterwards) and pooling the results from both days. These matrices indicated that significant correlations existed only between jet lag and alertness, concentration, and motivation, and then only when these other variables were assessed at the same time as jet lag or 1 or 2 time‐points earlier. Jet lag was then treated as the dependent variable and the symptoms as covariates in analysis of covariances (ANCOVAs), with the days treated as a random effect. This analysis enabled the significance of potential predictors of jet lag, together with their β‐coefficients (the relationship between a unit change of each significant predictor and the change in jet lag), to be calculated. Falls in alertness and motivation were significant predictors of increased jet lag, provided that they were measured at the same time, when they accounted for about 50% of the jet lag; when measured at other time‐points, they did not act as significant predictors. It is concluded that the amount of jet lag varies during the course of the day and that it can be predicted from contemporaneous assessments of alertness and motivation—but not from assessments made at other times of the day, nor from other variables that are symptoms of jet lag, even though these other variables are significantly increased. In considering the results of this and our previous study, we reiterate the view that the exact meaning of “jet lag” is complex and that the particular combination of factors that contribute to it might vary with the time of day that the assessment is made. Inferences about any decrements due to time‐zone transitions cannot be made reliably at times of the day that differ from the time when jet lag is assessed.     

The Relationship Between Assessments of Jet Lag and Some of Its Symptoms

The power of the symptoms of jet lag in predicting the amount of jet lag measured at the same and different times of the day has been investigated. A total of 85 subjects was studied for 6 days after a flight from the UK to Australia (10 time zones to the east). At 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00, and 24:00h, the subjects recorded their jet lag and fatigue. At 08:00h, they also assessed their sleep. At 12:00 and 16:00h, they assessed their attitude to a meal, as well as their motivation, commitment, and irritability. On retiring, they recorded bowel activity. Assessments were by visual analog scales. Jet lag was treated as the dependent variable and the symptoms as covariates in ANCOVAs. Fatigue was a powerful predictor of jet lag, provided it was measured at the same time, and some aspects of sleep predicted jet lag measured on retiring or rising. The other symptoms predicted jet lag less powerfully and/or at a wider range of times. It is concluded that, even though jet lag at any time of the day can be predicted from contemporaneous assessments of fatigue and that it can be predicted on retiring or rising from some aspects of changed sleep, jet lag is predicted less reliably from other symptoms, including aspects of mental performance. These findings question exactly what causes jet lag at a particular time of day, and so are relevant to studies which use this measurement to investigate the problems associated with time‐zone transitions, and ways to ameliorate them.     

生产力与生物多样性之间的相互关系研究概述

生态系统生产力与生物多样性是人们普遍关心的二个中心问题。文章论述二者的相互关系及进行研究的主要内容,评述已有研究的几种假说,指出在进行生态学比较时,应该考虑生产力的因素相似而多样性不同的生态系统系列,才能客观地分析其原因。     

Ethology and the origins of behavioral endocrinology

The neurosciences embrace many disciplines, some long established, others of more recent origin. Behavioral endocrinology has only recently been fully acknowledged as a branch of neuroscience, distinctive for the determination of some of its exponents to remain integrative in the face of the many pressures towards reductionism that so dominate modern biology. One of its most characteristic features is a commitment to research at the whole-animal level on the physiological basis of complex behaviors, with a particular but by no means exclusive focus on reproductive behavior in all its aspects. The search for rigorously defined principles of behavioral organization that apply across species and the hormonal and neural mechanisms that sustain them underlies much of the research. Their aims are much like those put forth in the classical ethology of Lorenz and Tinbergen, one of the roots from which behavioral endocrinology has sprung. But there are others that can be traced back a century or more. Antecedents can be found in the work of such pioneers as Jakob von Uexküll, Jacques Loeb, Herbert Spencer Jennings, and particularly Charles Otis Whitman who launched a tradition that culminated in the classical contributions of Robert Hinde and Daniel Lehrman. William C. Young was another pioneer. His studies revolutionized thinking about the physiological mechanisms by which hormones influence behavior. An earlier potent influence was Karl Lashley who helped to shape the career of Frank Ambrose Beach who, more than anyone, has played a leading role in launching this new field.     

Some Thoughts on the Etiology of Human Diabetes

A suggested classification of the possible causes of diabetes mellitus is presented, based on the assumption that the disorder is genetically controlled. On the one hand there are factors which produce a failure in the formation, liberation, or action of insulin; on the other hand, there are factors which produce an increased formation, liberation, or action of substances which, in excess, have diabetogenic effects. As well, genetic defects that give rise to diabetes mellitus may involve insulin-dependent reactions or, as a theoretical consideration, be independent of hormonal actions. Final clarification of the physiological mechanisms by which each of the causes produces abnormalities in metabolism offers a challenge for future investigation, as well as elucidation of the primary defect or defects in diabetes mellitus.     

Nature-Nurture and the Debates Surrounding Ethology and Sociobiology

The central problem in the history of animal behavior has beenthe inability to perceive the phenotype as the result of aninteraction between genome and environment, despite the considerablelip service paid to the interaction. In North America the comparativestudy of animal behavior was overshadowed by the growth of anexperimental psychology that produced the general-process viewof learning, holding that the mechanisms underlying learningare much the same in all species. That made evolution irrelevant.During the same period ethology emerged in Europe as the studyof naturally occurring behavior in an evolutionary context.Because evolution is fundamental to ethology, the genetic basisof behavior was a central precept. Ethology and psychology collidedafter World War II. After a vigorous exchange on the issues,a synthesis by Robert Hinde materialized, one that advancedthe study of behavior and produced a sophisticated understandingof nature and nurture. A few decades later sociobiology appearedand was immediately assailed for making what were seen as unwarrantedextensions from animal to human behavior, and for emphasizinggenetic control of behavior. Much of the debate that ensuedwas distractingly political and threw little light on the scientificmerits of the issues although it moderated the stance of sociobiologists;on the other hand, the politically inspired debates may haveharmed the field of animal behavior.