Cognitive Ecology The Evolutionary Ecology of Information Processing and Decision Making

About this book

Integrates evolutionary ecology and cognitive science, demonstrating how studies of perception, memory and learning can deepen our understanding of animal behaviour and ecology. Individual chapters consider such issues as the evolution of learning and its influence on behaviour; the effects of cognitive mechanisms on the evolution of signaling behaviour; how neurobiological and evolutionaty processes have shaped navigational activities; functional and mechanical explanations for altered behaviours in response to changing environments; how foragers make decisions and how these decisions are influenced by the risks of predation; and how cognitive mechanisms affect partner choice.

Contents

1. Introduction Reuven Dukas 2. Neural representation and the evolution of signal form Magnus Enquist and Anthony Arak 3. Constraints on information processing and their effects on behavior Reuven Dukas 4. Evolutionary ecology of learning Reuven Dukas 5. The cognitive ecology of song communication and song learning in the song sparrow Michael D. Beecher, S. Elizabeth Campbell & J. Cully Nordby 6. Cognitive ecology of navigation Fred Dyer 7. The ecology and neurobiology of spatial memory David .F. Sherry 8. Risk-sensitive foraging: decision-making in variable environments. Melissa Bateson and Alex Kacelnik 9. Behavioral decisions about foraging and predator avoidance Ronald C. Ydenberg 10. Evolutionary ecology of partner choice Lee A. Dugatkin & Andrew Sih 11. Cognitive ecology: prospects Reuven Dukas

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