Clever As a Fox : Animal Intelligence And What It Can Teach Us About Ourselves - Hardcover

Sonja I. Yoerg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158234115X ISBN 13: 9781582341156

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2001

Synopsis

A lively, insightful look at the world of animal intelligence.
Recent evidence has dismissed the belief that animals are simply reflex machines, acting without thought or real consciousness. In response, there has been a rush to examine animal intelligence. Yet what, precisely, is intelligence? Is it the ability to learn, the ability to remember, or the ability to survive? What separates instinct from intelligence? Why are dolphins smarter than eagles and bees smarter than worms? Are cats smarter than dogs?
Clever as a Fox explores the often-misconstrued world of animal intelligence. From B.F. Skinner's behaviorism to evolutionary biology, Sonja Yoerg examines the ways we have come to view motivation and intelligence in animals. By evaluating our complex relationships to animals-why we eat some animals while pampering others is often predicated on a commensurate belief in intelligence, Yoerg offers us a better understanding of our own way of thinking. Entertaining, and scrupulously researched, Clever as a Fox will challenge your previously held notions about animals and the measure of intelligence, both theirs and ours.

About this title

About the Author:

Sonja Yoerg earned her Ph.D. in biopsychology from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focused on the study of learning and foraging in blue jays, pigeons, kangaroo rats, and spotted hyenas, both in the lab and the field. Yoerg is also the author of the three novels published by Penguin/Berkley and spends much of her time gardening and cooking in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

From Publishers Weekly:

By questioning our inadequate traditional definitions of intelligence, ethologist Yoerg, project director for the Captive Breeding Program at the University of California, leads the reader through a lively, literate book, loaded with case studies, on animal behavior, intellect and instinct. Too often, he argues, our perceptions and understanding of animals, and our feelings for and against their different ilk, are linked to cultural prejudices. We have an affinity for those we deem closer to us on the evolutionary ladder, and tend to grant primates and other mammals a higher degree of understanding and emotion than other orders of animals. Birds, reptiles, amphibians, arachnids and insects are too often perceived merely as instinct-driven living mechanisms, even though, as Yoerg points out, the tree of evolution has sprouted numerous, diverse forms of survival-related intelligence. With numerous examples based on scientific experiments and observation, combined with a wealth of anecdotal personal experiences from North America, Africa and Europe, Yoerg challenges our comfortable beliefs. This is a fast-paced read, studded with insightful perspectives ranging from behavioral authorities (Robert Yerkes, B.F. Skinner) to literary lights (George Orwell, Wallace Stevens). Specialists with an interest in ethology and animal psychology will benefit as much from this intriguing stroll through the kingdom of animal intellectual ability as the general reader. (Mar.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 158234115X
• ISBN 13: 9781582341156
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 324