Paradigms for the Study of Behavior

Methods in Neurosciences, Volume 14: Paradigms for the Study of Behavior is a collection of articles that describes the methods for measuring a wide range of behavior. This volume covers the means for measuring different behaviors, such as reproductive, maternal, sexual, aggression, social interactions, feeding behavior, memory analysis, and classical conditioning. The opening papers outline the proper conditions and practical considerations in which the researcher can study the sexual and reproductive behavior of animals in the laboratory. Another paper describes how to assess aggressiveness in rodents including ethical issues involved in such study. The book then discusses the effects of intracerebral administration of neuropeptides in rats using surgical and stereotaxic methods. Another paper presents the measurement of behavioral thermoregulatory reflexes to show acuity of temperature sensation and thermoregulatory control. This volume also discusses the measurement of song-learning behavior in birds through ''sensorimotor,'' ''action-based,'' and ''sensory'' methods of learning. This book will be helpful for students, scientists, technicians, and laboratory workers whose work involves experiments that need to be accurately measured.