These volumes represent the proceedings of NATO Advanced Study Institute on the topic of "Cognitive Processes and Spatial Orientation in Animal and Man" held at La-Baume-les-Aix, Aix-en-Provence, France, in June-July 1985. The motivation underlying this Institute stemmed from the recent advances and interest in the problems of spatial behavior. In Psychology, traditional S-R concepts were found to be unsatisfactorY for fully accounting for the complexity of spatial behavior. Coupled with the decline in such an approach, has been a resurgence of interest in cognitive types of concepts. In Ethology, investigators have begun to use more sophisticated methods for the study of homing and navigational behaviors. In the general area of Neuroscience, marked advances have been achieved in the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying spatial behaviors. And finally, there has been a burgeoning interest and body of knowledge concerning the development of spatial behavior in humans. All of these factors combined to suggest the necessity of bringing together scientists working in these areas with the intent that such a meeting might lead to a cross-fertilization of the various areas. Possibly by providing a context in which members of the various disciplines could interact, it was felt that we might increase the likelihood of identifying those similarities and differences in the concepts and methods common to all groups. Such an identification could provide the basis for a subsequent interdisciplinary research effort.

Klappentext

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, La-Baume-les-Aix (Aix-en-Provence), France, June 27-July 7, 1985

Inhalt
The cognitive map concept and its consequences.- Cognitive mechanisms in animal problem-solving.- Section I. Experimental Animal Psychology.- Behavior in relation to objects in space: some historical perspectives.- Behavior as a locationist views it.- Local cues and distal arrays in the control of spatial behavior.- A comparative approach to cognitive mapping.- Detour and shortcut abilities in several species of mammals.- Movement through space and spatially organized behavior.- Study of cognitive processes used by dogs in spatial tasks.- Role of the spatial structure in multiple choice problem-solving by golden hamsters.- Memory properties of spatial behaviours in cats and hamsters.- The role of intramaze stimuli in spatial problem solving.- Rats use the geometry of surfaces for navigation.- Dissociation between components of spatial memory in the rat during ontogeny.- Spatial and nonspatial strategies in the orientation of the rat.- Section II. Neuroethology and Ethology.- Neuroethology: toward a functional analysis of Stimulus-Response mediating and modulating neural circuitries.- Cognitive maps and navigation in homing pigeons.- Accuracy of map-building and navigation by humans during natural exploration: relative roles of magnetoreception and vision.- The control of short-distance homing in the golden hamster.- Cognitive map size and homing behavior.- The heuristic value of visual spatial orientation in insects.- Pigeon homing and the avian hippocampal complex: a complementary spatial behavior paradigm.- Effectiveness and limitation of random search in homing behaviour.- Foraging and social behaviour of ungulates: proposals for a mathematical model.- Spatial memory in food-storing birds.- Authors Index.