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1.
This paper focuses on evolution as a unifying theme in biology education. Our aim is to argue that the different topics taught
in secondary school biology classes should be enriched with and linked together by means of accounts of the history of life.
We named this approach a “natural history perspective” on biology education. An essential aspect of the natural history perspective
is the claim that evolutionary history forms the context for the development of an understanding of evolutionary processes.
While there are some indications that a natural history perspective can function as a context for understanding micro-evolutionary
processes, more research is called for.
相似文献
Esther M. van DijkEmail: |
2.
Debates over adaptationism can be clarified and partially resolved by careful consideration of the ‘grain’ at which evolutionary
processes are described. The framework of ‘adaptive landscapes’ can be used to illustrate and facilitate this investigation.
We argue that natural selection may have special status at an intermediate grain of analysis of evolutionary processes. The
cases of sickle-cell disease and genomic imprinting are used as case studies.
相似文献
Peter Godfrey-SmithEmail: |
3.
Abhijeet Bardapurkar 《Evolution》2008,1(3):299-305
This paper critically reviews and characterizes the student's causal-explanatory understanding; this is done as a step toward
explicating the problematic of evolution education as it concerns the cognitive difficulties in understanding Darwin's theory of natural selection. The review concludes that the student's understanding is fundamentally different from Darwin's, for
the student understands evolutionary change as necessary individual transformation caused by the transformative action of
various physical and behavioral factors. This is in complete contrast to Darwin's (and even the Darwinian's, for that matter)
understanding of evolutionary change as a change caused by accumulative selection. Hence, to understand natural selection,
the student has to learn to “see” how the accumulative selection causes evolutionary change.
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Abhijeet BardapurkarEmail: |
4.
Patrick Forber 《Biology & philosophy》2009,24(2):247-266
Evolutionary biology, indeed any science that attempts to reconstruct prehistory, faces practical limitations on available
data. These limitations create the problem of contrast failure: specific observations may fail to discriminate between rival evolutionary hypotheses. Assessing the risk of contrast failure
provides a way to evaluate testing protocols in evolutionary science. Here I will argue that part of the methodological critique
in the Spandrels paper involves diagnosing contrast failure problems. I then distinguish the problem of contrast failure from the more familiar
philosophical problem of underdetermination, and demonstrate how contrast failure arises in scientific practice with an investigation
into Lewontin and White’s (Evolution 14:116–129, 1960) estimation of an adaptive landscape.
相似文献
Patrick ForberEmail: |
5.
Hanno Sandvik 《Biology & philosophy》2009,24(4):425-440
Both written and graphic accounts of history can be biased by the perspective of the historian. O’Hara (Biol Philos 7:135–160,
1992) has demonstrated that this also applies to evolutionary history and its historians, and identified four narrative devices
that introduce anthropocentricisms into accounts of phylogeny. In the current paper, I identify a fifth such narrative device,
viz. the left–right ordering of the taxa at the tips of cladograms. I define two measures that make it possible to quantify
the degree of anthropocentricism of cladograms, the human attention score and human rightness score. I then carry out an analysis
of the presence of the different distorting mechanisms in phylogenetic textbooks. I deliberately chose two textbooks that
adopted a cladistic perspective, since their authors can be assumed to be more conscious about the aim of avoiding anthropocentricisms.
Three of the narrative devices are thus absent from cladistic works. However, there is a weak tendency that the resolution
of cladogram branches is biased in favour of Homo sapiens. Furthermore, the human perspective is clear and highly significant in the positioning of taxa along the left–right axis
of cladograms. I discuss the reasons for and implications of these biased presentations.
相似文献
Hanno SandvikEmail: |
6.
This paper introduces a threshold policy with hysteresis (TPH) for the control of one-predator one-prey models. The models studied are the Lotka–Volterra and Rosenzweig–MacArthur
two species density-dependent predator–prey models and the Arditi–Ginzburg nondimensional ratio-dependent model. The proposed
policy (TPH) changes the dynamics of the system in such a way that a bounded oscillation is achieved confined to a region
that does not allow extinction of either species. The policy can be designed by a suitable choice of so called virtual equilibrium
points in a simple and intuitive manner.
相似文献
Amit Bhaya (Corresponding author)Email: |
7.
T. Ryan Gregory 《Evolution》2008,1(2):121-137
Charles Darwin sketched his first evolutionary tree in 1837, and trees have remained a central metaphor in evolutionary biology
up to the present. Today, phylogenetics—the science of constructing and evaluating hypotheses about historical patterns of
descent in the form of evolutionary trees—has become pervasive within and increasingly outside evolutionary biology. Fostering
skills in “tree thinking” is therefore a critical component of biological education. Conversely, misconceptions about evolutionary
trees can be very detrimental to one’s understanding of the patterns and processes that have occurred in the history of life.
This paper provides a basic introduction to evolutionary trees, including some guidelines for how and how not to read them.
Ten of the most common misconceptions about evolutionary trees and their implications for understanding evolution are addressed.
相似文献
T. Ryan GregoryEmail: |
8.
T. Ryan Gregory 《Evolution》2008,1(3):259-273
The occurrence, generality, and causes of large-scale evolutionary trends—directional changes over long periods of time—have
been the subject of intensive study and debate in evolutionary science. Large-scale patterns in the history of life have also
been of considerable interest to nonspecialists, although misinterpretations and misunderstandings of this important issue
are common and can have significant implications for an overall understanding of evolution. This paper provides an overview
of how trends are identified, categorized, and explained in evolutionary biology. Rather than reviewing any particular trend
in detail, the intent is to provide a framework for understanding large-scale evolutionary patterns in general and to highlight
the fact that both the patterns and their underlying causes are usually quite complex.
相似文献
T. Ryan GregoryEmail: |
9.
Niles Eldredge 《Evolution》2008,1(1):10-15
Evolutionary biology presents a bewildering array of phenomena to scientists and students alike—ranging from molecules to
species and ecosystems; and embracing 3.8 billion years of life’s history on earth. Biological systems are arranged hierarchically,
with smaller units forming the components of larger systems. The evolutionary hierarchy, based on replication of genetic information
and reproduction, is a complex of genes/organisms/demes/species and higher taxa. The ecological hierarchy, based on patterns
of matter–energy transfer, is a complex of proteins/organisms/avatars/local ecosystems/regional ecosystems. All organisms
are simultaneously parts of both hierarchical systems. Darwin’s original formulation of natural selection maps smoothly onto
a diagram where the two hierarchical systems are placed side-by-side. The “sloshing bucket” theory of evolution emerges from
empirical cases in biological history mapped onto this dual hierarchy scheme: little phenotypically discernible evolution
occurs with minor ecological disturbance; conversely, greatest concentrations of change in evolutionary history follow mass
extinctions, themselves based on physical perturbations of global extent. Most evolution occurs in intermediate-level regional
“turnovers,” when species extinction leads to rapid evolution of new species. Hierarchy theory provides a way of integrating
all fields of evolutionary biology into an easily understood—and taught—rubric.
相似文献
Niles EldredgeEmail: |
10.
Peter Godfrey-Smith 《Biology & philosophy》2007,22(3):429-437
Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary
change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence
properties is also discussed.
相似文献
Peter Godfrey-SmithEmail: |
11.
Community Attachment: The Complexity and Consequence of the Natural Environment Facet 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Joan M. Brehm 《Human ecology: an interdisciplinary journal》2007,35(4):477-488
The primary objective of this paper is to examine more closely the complex nature of the natural environment dimension of
community attachment using the narratives of local community members. This work seeks to build and elaborate on previous quantitative
analyses that demonstrated two distinct dimensions of community attachment––social and natural environment. The findings reveal
several distinct facets of the natural environment dimension of community attachment and demonstrate both a discreet perception
of the natural environment in terms of community attachment as well as one that is more embedded within the social context
of a particular lifestyle. The findings further demonstrate the need to include consideration of the natural environment in
the broader assessment of community attachment and bolster previous quantitative research findings.
相似文献
Joan M. BrehmEmail: |
12.
John L. Locke 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(3):347-361
To fully understand human language, an evolved trait that develops in the young without formal instruction, it must be possible
to observe language that has not been influenced by instruction. But in modern societies, much of the language that is used,
and most of the language that is measured, is confounded by literacy and academic training. This diverts empirical attention
from natural habits of speech, causing theorists to miss critical features of linguistic practice. To dramatize this point,
I examine data from a special population––the canal boat children of early twentieth century England––whose language developed
without academic influence, but was evaluated using instruments designed primarily for academic use. These data, taken together
with related research, suggest that formal instruction can convert language from a purely biological trait that was selected,
to a talent that was instructed, while altering the users of language themselves. I then review research indicating that formal
instruction can also mask or distort inter-sexual differences in the social applications of language, a significant handicap
to evolutionary theorizing. I conclude that if biological theories of language are to succeed, they must explain the spontaneous
speaking practices of naturally behaving individuals.
相似文献
John L. LockeEmail: |
13.
Gillian Barker 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(1):1-25
Two critiques of simple adaptationism are distinguished: anti-adaptationism and extended adaptationism. Adaptationists and
anti-adaptationists share the presumption that an evolutionary explanation should identify the dominant simple cause of the
evolutionary outcome to be explained. A consideration of extended-adaptationist models such as coevolution, niche construction
and extended phenotypes reveals the inappropriateness of this presumption in explaining the evolution of certain important
kinds of features—those that play particular roles in the regulation of organic processes, especially behavior. These biological
or behavioral ‘levers’ are distinctively available for adaptation and exaptation by their possessors and for co-optation by
other organisms. As a result they are likely to result from a distinctive and complex type of evolutionary process that conforms
neither to simple adaptationist nor to anti-adaptationist styles of explanation. Many of the human features whose evolutionary
explanation is most controversial belong to this category, including the female orgasm.
相似文献
Gillian BarkerEmail: |
14.
Despite growing interest in traditional and local ecological knowledge for conservation and resource management, the role of migrant resource users is largely unexplored. Challenging many assumptions about what constitutes “local knowledge,” migrant and immigrant harvesters of non-timber forest products on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington possess useful ecological knowledge of overstory–understory relationships and how forestry practices affect understory biological and commercial production. Harvesters of salal (Gaultheria shallon), a shrub used in the multi-million dollar floral greens industry, were interviewed in Mason County, Washington in 2001–2003. Interviews revealed that harvesters possess different kinds of resource management knowledge depending on whether they are experienced harvesters or more recent newcomers to the area. These differences may also correlate with differences in their harvesting practices. Understanding how resource management knowledge differs between experienced and newcomer harvesters can inform forest managers in their efforts to develop effective management and permitting policies for floral greens and other non-timber forest resources in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
相似文献
Heidi L. BallardEmail: |
15.
T. Ryan Gregory 《Evolution》2009,2(1):5-27
It is clear from his published works that Charles Darwin considered domestication to be very useful in exploring and explaining
mechanisms of evolutionary change. Not only did domestication occupy the introductory chapter of On the Origin of Species, but he revisited the topic in a two-volume treatise less than a decade later. In addition to drawing much of his information
about heredity from studies of domesticated animals and plants, Darwin saw important parallels between the process of artificial
selection by humans and natural selection by the environment. There was resistance to this analogy even among Darwin’s contemporary
supporters when it was proposed, and there also has been disagreement among historians and philosophers regarding the role
that the analogy with artificial selection actually played in the discovery of natural selection. Regardless of these issues,
the analogy between artificial and natural selection remains important in both research and education in evolution. In particular,
the present article reviews ten lessons about evolution that can be drawn from the modern understanding of domestication and
artificial selection. In the process, a basic overview is provided of current approaches and knowledge in this rapidly advancing
field.
相似文献
T. Ryan GregoryEmail: |
16.
Roger Sansom 《Biology & philosophy》2009,24(4):441-459
One current version of the internalism/externalism debate in evolutionary theory focuses on the relative importance of developmental
constraints in evolutionary explanation. The received view of developmental constraints sees them as an internalist concept
that tend to be shared across related species as opposed to selective pressures that are not. Thus, to the extent that constraints
can explain anything, they can better explain similarity across species, while natural selection is better able to explain
their differences. I challenge both of these aspects of the received view and propose a hierarchical view of constraints.
相似文献
Roger SansomEmail: |
17.
M. Irfan-Ullah Giriraj Amarnath M. S. R. Murthy A. Townsend Peterson 《Biodiversity and Conservation》2007,16(6):1917-1925
Aglaia bourdillonii is a plant narrowly endemic to the southern portion of the Western Ghats (WG), in peninsular India. To understand its ecological
and geographic distribution, we used ecological niche modeling (ENM) based on detailed distributional information recently
gathered, in relation to detailed climatic data sets. The ENMs successfully reconstructed key features of the species’ geographic
distribution, focusing almost entirely on the southern WG. Much of the species’ distributional potential is already under
protection, but our analysis allows identification of key zones for additional protection, all of which are adjacent to existing
protected areas. ENM provides a useful tool for understanding the natural history of such rare and endangered species.
相似文献
M. Irfan-UllahEmail: Email: |
18.
Marshall Abrams 《Biology & philosophy》2009,24(4):487-504
It’s recently been argued that biological fitness can’t change over the course of an organism’s life as a result of organisms’
behaviors. However, some characterizations of biological function and biological altruism tacitly or explicitly assume that
an effect of a trait can change an organism’s fitness. In the first part of the paper, I explain that the core idea of changing
fitness can be understood in terms of conditional probabilities defined over sequences of events in an organism’s life. The
result is a notion of “conditional fitness” which is static but which captures intuitions about apparent behavioral effects
on fitness. The second part of the paper investigates the possibility of providing a systematic foundation for conditional
fitness in terms of spaces of sequences of states of an organism and its environment. I argue that the resulting “organism–environment
history conception” helps unify diverse biological perspectives, and may provide part of a metaphysics of natural selection.
相似文献
Marshall AbramsEmail: |
19.
Chris Haufe 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(1):115-128
The importance of mate choice and sexual selection has been emphasized by the majority of evolutionary psychologists. This
paper assesses three cases of work on mate choice and sexual selection in evolutionary psychology: David Buss on cross-cultural
human mate preferences, Randy Thornhill and Steve Gangestad on the link between mate preferences and fluctuating asymmetry,
and Geoffrey Miller on the role of Fisher’s runaway process in human evolution. A mixture of conceptual and empirical problems
in each case highlights the general weakness of work in evolutionary psychology on these issues.
相似文献
Chris HaufeEmail: |
20.
Anthropologists and psychiatrists traditionally have used the salience of a mind–body dichotomy to distinguish Western from
non-Western ethnopsychologies. However, despite claims of mind–body holism in non-Western cultures, mind–body divisions are
prominent in non-Western groups. In this article, we discuss three issues: the ethnopsychology of mind–body dichotomies in
Nepal, the relationship between mind–body dichotomies and the hierarchy of resort in a medical pluralistic context, and, finally,
the role of mind–body dichotomies in public health interventions (biomedical and psychosocial) aimed toward decreasing the
stigmatization of mental illness. We assert that, by understanding mind–body relations in non-Western settings, their implications,
and ways in which to reconstitute these relations in a less stigmatizing manner, medical anthropologists and mental health
workers can contribute to the reduction of stigma in global mental health care.
相似文献
Brandon A. KohrtEmail: |