How does inter-individual variation affect group level behaviour?

No two animals are the same. Individual differences in personality, memory or internal state may lead two different animals to make different choices or show different behavioural phenotypes. These inter-individual differences are key to understanding the life history strategies animals have adopted to adapt to their environments. However, despite the importance of inter-individual differences to our understanding of animal behaviour, there are still significant gaps in our knowledge of how inter-individual differences may affect group level behaviours. In this thesis I therefore aimed to determine how inter-individual differences in personality or memory may affect group level behaviour in social and subsocial invertebrates. In this thesis I describe lab-based behavioural trials on social and subsocial model systems (Temnothorax albipennis and Oniscus asellus respectively) to empirically test whether differences in inter-individual memories or personality affects group level decision-making and stability. I then further investigated the possible mechanisms behind our findings using agent-based modelling. The thesis shows that differences in both personality and memory played an important role in the emergence of group level behaviours and suggested that greater integration of the fields of animal personality and collective behaviour could greatly benefit our understanding of animal behaviour. I also explored the ethics and implications of carrying out animal behaviour studies. I suggested that research into invertebrate personality has many possible benefits both through tangible conservation interventions, as well as benefitting our theoretical understanding of animal interactions. However, I also highlighted the importance of continued re-evaluation of the ethics of the methods used in invertebrate research in light of shifting research into invertebrate cognition and public perception. I hope this work will spark further work into the role which inter-individual differences may play in group level behaviours as well as further interest in exploring the ethics and implications of this types of work

COVID-19 and Environment: Impacts of a Global Pandemic

This is a reprint of the MDPI IJERPH Special Issue entitled "COVID-19 and Environment: Impacts of a Global Pandemic". The reprint consists of 17 papers with different topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental impacts using data from different countries all over the globe

Honey flows through fertile valleys : The cognitive and evolutionary foundations of paradise representations

The aim of the study is to explain how paradise beliefs are born from the viewpoint of mental functions of the human mind. The focus is on the observation that paradise beliefs across the world are mutually more similar than dissimilar. By using recent theories and results from the cognitive and evolutionary study of religion as well as from studies of environmental preferences, I suggest that this is because pan-human unconscious motivations, the architecture of mind, and the way the human mind processes information constrain the possible repertoire of paradise beliefs. The study is divided into two parts, theoretical and empirical. The arguments in the theoretical part are tested with data in the empirical part with two data sets. The first data set was collected using an Internet survey. The second data set was derived from literary sources. The first data test the assumption that intuitive conceptions of an environment of dreams generally follow the outlines set by evolved environmental preferences, but that they can be tweaked by modifying the presence of desirable elements. The second data test the assumption that familiarity is a dominant factor determining the content of paradise beliefs. The results of the study show that in addition to the widely studied belief in supernatural agents, belief in supernatural environments wells from the natural functioning of the human mind attesting the view that religious thinking and ideas are natural for human species and are produced by the same mental mechanisms as other cultural information. The results also help us to understand that the mental structures behind the belief in the supernatural have a wider scope than has been previously acknowledged.Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, miten mielikuvat paratiisista eli paratiisirepresentaatiot muodostuvat kognitiivisen psykologian ja evoluutioteorian näkökulmasta. Tavoitteena on selittää, millaiset tekijät johtavat paratiisirepresentaatioiden muotoutumiseen ja miksi niillä on universaalilla tasolla niin paljon yhteneviä ominaisuuksia, että on mahdollista esittää niillä olevan yhteinen, kaikkia ihmisiä koskeva ei-tietoinen perusta. Tutkimus jakautuu teoreettiseen ja analyyttiseen osioon jossa teoreettisen osan väittämiä testataan kahdella erityyppisellä aineistolla. Teorian ydinajatuksena on osoittaa, että paratiisiuskomukset syntyvät mielessä tiedostamattomien, luonnonvalinnan myötä kehittyneiden mielen toimintojen avulla ja että nämä toiminnot rajoittavat mahdollisia intuitiivisia mielikuvia paratiisista. Teoria perustuu viimeaikaisten kognitiivisen uskontotieteen ja ympäristöpsykologian tutkimustuloksiin sekä evoluutioteoreettisiin argumentteihin ja kokeelliseen tutkimukseen. Aineisto-osa koostuu kyselytutkimuksesta sekä historiallisia ja nykyaikaisia teksti- ja etnografisia aineistoja analysoivasta osasta. Tutkimuksissa etsitään vastauksia sille, miten ihmiset hahmottavat unelmaympäristönsä ja miten paikalliset olosuhteet vaikuttavat siihen, millaiseksi paratiisi hahmotetaan. Tulokset osoittavat, että paratiisiuskomusten keskinäinen samankaltaisuus selittyy mielen tiedonkäsittelyn samankaltaisuudella, joka ei ole kulttuurisidonnaista vaan ihmiselle lajina ominaista. Lisäksi tulokset vahvistavat kognitiivisen uskontotieteen piirissä esitettyä näkemystä uskonnon luonnollisuudesta: uskonnollinen ajattelu on ihmiselle luontaista ja osa kulttuuria, ei siitä erillinen osa-alue

Fantastic Place and Space in China Miéville’s Fiction. Rhetorics of Emancipatory Spatial Changes in the Miévillean New Weird

This dissertation explores how the literary construction of urban space is taking place in the New Weird fiction. The study analyses how, in six books by contemporary British author China Miéville, and whether literary space can be used for emancipation as a critique of capitalism, and if so, how. The paper draws on the conceptual and terminological approaches of space studies, critical map theory and narratology to explore these six books. It aims to establish a hermeneutic model in which literary space functions as a political critique of capitalist state apparatuses and represented superstructures. The thesis scrutinises the Bas-Lag trilogy (Perdido Street Station (2000); The Scar (2002); and Iron Council (2004)). The City and The City (2009); Un Lun Dun (2007); and This Census-taker (2016). This approach links narratology through its engagement with literary narratives and perspectives, interpretation of the city, place/space, third space and cognitive mapping cognitive space. The paper also considers the political aspects of spatial arrangement between the slum and the centre in the spatial representation of ideological state apparatuses. Miéville uses the New Weird as a means of investigative arena for themes such as politics, ideology and the critique of capitalism. He utilises the framework of Marxism, in which he point out the recognition of the capacity of fantastic literature to contaminate the real with the non-real and thereby reveal to the reader the possibility of seeing the world differently, and of bringing the political aspects of urban life into the for those without power. The dissertation interprets space within the framework of Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre and Edward W. Soja. The thesis provides insights into the New spatial arrangements of the New Weird, drawing on the context of spatial studies, critical map theory and narratology, and narrative theories and their political aspects

The European Landing Obligation. Reducing Discards in Complex, Multi-Species and Multi-Jurisdictional Fisheries

This open access book provides a comprehensive examination of the European Landing Obligation policy from many relevant perspectives. It includes evaluations of its impacts at economical, socio-cultural, ecological and institutional levels. It also discusses the feasibility and benefits of several potential mitigation strategies. The book was timely published, exactly at the time where the Landing Obligation was planned to be fully implemented. This book is of significant interest to all stakeholders involved, but also to the general public of Europe and to other jurisdictions throughout the world that are also searching for ways to deal with by-catch and discard issues

The European Landing Obligation

This open access book provides a comprehensive examination of the European Landing Obligation policy from many relevant perspectives. It includes evaluations of its impacts at economical, socio-cultural, ecological and institutional levels. It also discusses the feasibility and benefits of several potential mitigation strategies. The book was timely published, exactly at the time where the Landing Obligation was planned to be fully implemented. This book is of significant interest to all stakeholders involved, but also to the general public of Europe and to other jurisdictions throughout the world that are also searching for ways to deal with by-catch and discard issues

Importance of seagrass beds as a habitat for fishery species around Jersey

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The design and feasibility of a work-focused relational group-CBT treatment programme to enhance job retention in employed service-users with moderate-severe recurrent depression.

Background: Employees with moderate-severe recurrent depression are at risk of losing their jobs. A search of the literature revealed that most psychotherapeutic interventions are not work-focused, and there are none that have been specifically designed to enhance job retention in employed service-users of UK Community Mental Health Teams. A subsequent update of the research evidence using the same literature search strategy plus another search with more stringent inclusion criteria found several studies of work-focused psychotherapeutic interventions. However, but there is still a gap in terms of work-focused psychotherapeutic interventions specifically designed for employees with more severe mental health problems. Methods: The Medical Research Council guidance for the development and evaluation of complex interventions was used throughout this study. Firstly, an effectiveness review of relevant psychotherapeutic interventions revealed several over-arching principles which appeared to underpin their effects such as using a care pathway incorporating multi-disciplinary teamwork, guideline concordance, informed clinical decision-making, tracking of progress, and the use of outreach to encourage clients to complete treatment. Secondly, a stakeholder consultation was undertaken during the planning period, and realist analysis of the focus group data identified six plausible mechanisms of change which allowed for modification of the new intervention design and refinement of the programme theory. Thirdly, piloting involved a small feasibility study using a quasi-experimental pre-post design with eight participants which generated both quantitative and qualitative data regarding clinical and work outcomes. Fourthly, a further stakeholder consultation was undertaken during the reviewing period to consider re-design of the new intervention in terms of improving acceptability and accessibility. Finally, a process of mixed methods data integration was used to make recommendations for further implementation and evaluation in a definitive trial. Results: Six provisional Context-Intervention-Mechanism-Outcome (CIMO) configurations were developed into a programme theory. Overall, implementation and evaluation of the new intervention were feasible although problems were encountered in recruiting sufficient numbers for randomisation, and with collecting follow up data. It was also expensive to provide compared to CBT programmes in primary and secondary mental healthcare services. Outcomes suggest the new intervention is a promising treatment for moderate-severe recurrent depression for some women and may help them in maintaining their employment. Acceptability could be improved by making the new intervention more interesting and stimulating, with a focus on coping over the long-term. Accessibility could be improved by making the new intervention more understandable, delivering it at the worksite, and making it peer-led. Conclusions: Job retention for employed service-users may be enhanced if the tertiary individual level Treatment Programme is re-designed as a primary organisational level Training (and staff support) Programme informed by group-CBT.University of Derby Leeds & York Partnership NHS Foundation Trus

Behavioural Contagion Explains Group Cohesion in a Social Crustacean.

In gregarious species, social interactions maintain group cohesion and the associated adaptive values of group living. The understanding of mechanisms leading to group cohesion is essential for understanding the collective dynamics of groups and the spatio-temporal distribution of organisms in environment. In this view, social aggregation in terrestrial isopods represents an interesting model due to its recurrence both in the field and in the laboratory. In this study, and under a perturbation context, we experimentally tested the stability of groups of woodlice according to group size and time spent in group. Our results indicate that the response to the disturbance of groups decreases with increases in these two variables. Models neglecting social effects cannot reproduce experimental data, attesting that cohesion of aggregation in terrestrial isopods is partly governed by a social effect. In particular, models involving calmed and excited individuals and a social transition between these two behavioural states more accurately reproduced our experimental data. Therefore, we concluded that group cohesion (and collective response to stimulus) in terrestrial isopods is governed by a transitory resting state under the influence of density of conspecifics and time spent in group. Lastly, we discuss the nature of direct or indirect interactions possibly implicated.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe