Studying human behavior : how scientists investigate aggression and sexuality / Helen E. Longino.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Longino, Helen E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human behavior--Research.

Human behavior.

Behaviorism (Psychology).

Aggressiveness--Research.

Aggressiveness.

Sexology--Research.

Sexology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (263 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Studying Human Behavior, Helen E. Longino enters into the complexities of human behavioral research, a domain still dominated by the age-old debate of "nature versus nurture." Rather than supporting one side or another or attempting to replace that dichotomy with a different framework for understanding behavior, Longino focuses on how scientists study it, specifically sexual behavior and aggression, and asks what can be known about human behavior through empirical investigation. She dissects five approaches to the study of behavior-quantitative behavioral genetics, molecular behavior genetics, developmental psychology, neurophysiology and anatomy, and social/environmental methods-highlighting the underlying assumptions of these disciplines, as well as the different questions and mechanisms each addresses. She also analyzes efforts to integrate different approaches. Longino concludes that there is no single "correct" approach but that each contributes to our overall understanding of human behavior. In addition, Longino reflects on the reception and transmission of this behavioral research in scientific, social, clinical, and political spheres. A highly significant and innovative study that bears on crucial scientific questions, Studying Human Behavior will be essential reading not only for scientists and philosophers but also for science journalists and anyone interested in the engrossing challenges of understanding human behavior.

Contents:

Approaches to understanding human behavior

Quantitative behavioral genetics

Social-environmental approaches

Molecular behavioral genetics

Neurobiological approaches

Integrative approaches

Scope and limits of the approaches

Epistemological, ontological, and social analysis

What we could know

Defining behavior

The social life of behavioral science

A brief conclusion.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9781283874700

1283874709

9780226921822

0226921824

OCLC:

826853796