National Repository of Grey Literature 42 records found  1 - 10nextend  jump to record: Search took 0.00 seconds. 
The influence of thyroid hormones and adrenal glands on mental function
Augustinová, Jana ; Šivicová, Gabriela (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
This thesis focuses on effects of thyroid and adrenal hormones on mental functions, especially on cognitive functions and emotions. In the case of adrenal hormones it will also focus on stress and burnout syndrome, which are not considered as mental functions, but are connected to both psyche and the above mentioned hormones. The text is divided into two parts. The first, theoretical part deals with the anatomy and histology of these two organs, hormones that they produce and their influence on overall physical condition and pathology. The main section of this theoretical part deals with the description of influence of thyroid hormones and adrenal glands on the above mentioned mental functions. This work is based on both earlier and contemporary research, but predominantly on foreign research. In the second, empirical part, a proposal for longitudinal study of cortisol and thyroxine levels during depression treatment is presented. Klíčová slova: Hormones, thyroid glang, adrenal gland, mental functions, cognitive functions, emotions, stress, cortisol, thyroxine
Biological and social predictors and correlates of human morality
Kopecký, Robin ; Flegr, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee) ; Houdek, Petr (referee)
In this dissertation, we delve into the multifaceted domains of biological and social factors influencing human morality. The connecting element of this collection of four studies is both an interest in human morality as a traditional philosophical topic and the use of methods from empirical sciences, particularly biology, behavioural, and cognitive sciences. The first study focuses on the moral algorithms in autonomous vehicles. We examined moral preferences regarding the choice between software types that differ in their built-in algorithms for dealing with lethal collisions. These are categorized into three specific types: selfish, altruistic, and conservative. Respondents exhibited a preference for the altruistic strategy, which is reinforced when signalled to others. The altruistic preference is the most pronounced when it applies to everybody else, weaker when it reflects only a personal choice, and the weakest when choosing for one's own child. We conclude that making a choice public significantly sways individuals towards a more socially beneficial solution. The second study investigates the relationship between parasite Toxoplasma gondii infection and its subsequent impact on human political beliefs and values. Infected participants exhibited a tendency towards heightened tribalism and...
Tactical Deception in the Context of Evolutionary Psychology
Plos, Petr-Jan ; Polák, Jakub (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with tactical deception in the context of evolutionary psychology. Its aim is to summarize the findings related to this topic into a coherent overview. In the first chapter of the thesis the concept of deceptive behaviour is defined and linked to the concept of evolutionary psychology, then deceptive behaviour is divided into several levels. In the following chapters, tactical deception is defined, and its different types are introduced. Furthermore, the cognitive functions associated with tactical deception are discussed. The remainder of the theoretical part of the thesis is devoted to the distribution of tactical deception in the animal kingdom and several hypotheses for the possible origin of tactical deception are presented. The empirical part of this thesis presents a research design to test the hypothesis that the degree of tactical deception behaviour in different primate species depends on the steepness of their hierarchical organization. The research design adopts methods used by other researchers, namely, the Elo-rating method of measuring hierarchical ordering and the experimental method of informed gathering used to observe tactical deception behaviour. Key words: tactical deception; evolutionary psychology; primates; deception; evolution
Repeatability in the behavioural analyses
Vobrubová, Barbora ; Frynta, Daniel (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
This thesis is focused on the repeatability of behaviour, a suitable tool for quantification of personality, which is defined as consistent inter-individual differences. It contains five studies, which view repeatability and personality from different angles. In the first study, I focus on the description of the history of personality studies, the most often mammalian species used in these studies, and I present a metaanalysis of the published works. The highest repeatability was found in activity, the lowest in aggressivity and exploratory behaviour. The following two studies concern the expressions of personality in exploratory behaviour of the black rat (Rattus rattus). The first one analyses habituation in the course of repeated testing, and found the most prominent habituation in head-dipping (looking in the holes) in the hole board test. This study also demonstrates the differences between different approaches to estimating repeatability, when the inclusion of systematic effect of habituation increased the repeatability estimates. The subsequent study measured the levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM), their diurnal cycle and the association with exploratory behaviour. fGCM showed themselves to be an interindividually variable characteristic, which is well repeatable, despite the...
Locomotor, emotional and cognitive skills of laboratory Norway rats with different early ontogenetic experience with social play
Petr, Tomáš ; Špinka, Marek (advisor) ; Telenský, Petr (referee)
In the contemporary research of playful behavior in animals, it has not yet been reliably tested whether the experimental limitations of play in the critical phase of ontogenesis will have a negative effect on motor, emotional and cognitive skills in the later stages of an individual's development. In this thesis, we try to separate the influence of kinematic and social limitations of play experience by comparing three treatments of Long-Evans laboratory rats, in which rats were exposed to different play experience in the period between the 24th and 66th postnatal day. In this early period of ontogenesis, all male rats were allowed to play for one hour a day. According to the treatment, it was either modified the rats' play environment or the play was reduced by a socially less playful partner. In full-play treatment, the Long-Evans focal laboratory rat was allowed to play in the full extent of movement in the entire environment of a play arena. The play was enabled throughout the whole experiment with a partner of same Long-Evans strain. The same strain paired arrangement for the play was present in the second treatment with kinematically-reduced play, however the space for the play behavior was limited by a radical lowering of a ceiling of the play arena to such an extent that any three-...
Test of object permanence in primates
Gálik, Michal ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
5 ABSTRACT Object permanence is a cognitive ability to perceive the continuous existence of objects, even if they cannot be directly observed, respectively perceived by other senses (Piaget 1954). In humans object permanence develops in 6 qualitatively different stages. By using a comparative approach, it was found that the last stage 6 of this ability also occurs in great apes, gibbons and some New World monkeys (capuchin, marmoset and tamarin). In this study, we conducted a study with a series of invisible displacements of an object, in which we investigated whether two rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) have fully developed the ability of object permanence and don't rely on simple alternative cognitive strategies, while solving the different tasks. With one test subject, we confirmed that he solved the tasks with stage 6 object permanence abilities. Although the second individual reached significant performance in some sessions, the overall results are ambiguous, because during the testing he had a tendency to use simple alternative strategies. Our study concludes that under certain circumstances macaques have the cognitive capacity for a fully developed ability of object permanence. Key words: Object permanence, rhesus macaque, invisible displacement, cognitive functions
Comparative psychopathology of captive great apes: towards understanding psychological disturbances in captive orangutans
Odzganová Leskovská, Linda ; Fraňková, Slávka (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
The purpose of this paper is a qualitative insight into the problem of psychopathological phenomena in captive orangutans. The theoretical part deals with the elementary zoology of genus Pongo, and offers philosophical and ethical considerations of "animal kind", "captivity", "norm and psychopathology" as well as some methodological aspects of animal study. The aim of my empirical research design was to gather as much information as possible about the phenomena in question. This study is meant to provide preliminary ideas for further research and by no means aspires to cover the topic to the full. There are 5 zoos in Czech Republic and Slovakia that have orangutans, and I have visited 4 of them. Each group of orangutans was reported on by at least 2 people in direct contact with these animals (caretakers, veterinarians or curators). I have attempted to objectify my findings by individually interviewing 10 professionals, all of whom have provided their reports independently and confidentially. The caretakers reported on a total of 16 animals in their custody, out of which, there were 7 adult males, 5 adult females, 3 sub-adult males and 1 male infant. Of these, 8 were Sumatran orangutans, 6 Borneans and 2 crossbreeds. Three animals that entered the record were no longer present at the zoo by the time...
Vliv sourozenecké kompetice během přítomnosti u struku na mateřské chování u prasete domácího
Leszkowová, Iva ; Illmannová, Gudrun (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
This diploma thesis deal with the neonatal sibling competition during nursing within first day after farrowing, focusing on maternal reaction on neonatal sibling competition during nursing. We predicted that the sow will terminate nursing by a changing posture or by a non- nutritive nursing (i.e. nursing without milk ejection) with increasing number of fights and screams. A total of 19 healthy sows and their litters were directly observed and video recorded during first day after farrowing for 6 h. The behaviour of piglets (fighting, screaming, presence at the udder) in the pre massage and the post massage was scored every 15 seconds. Piglets which missed milk ejection, posture changing of the sow and whether the nursing involve milk ejection were noted. A sum of fighting and screaming piglets in the pre massage and the post massage was calculated. A higher sum of fighting and screaming piglets correlated with a higher proportion of non-nutritive nursing (P<0.001) as well as with a higher proportion of sow posture changing in the pre massage (P<0.01). However, a higher sum of fighting and screaming piglets did not increase the probability of sow posture changing in the post massage. The results show a positive correlation between the litter size and the sum of fighting and screaming piglets in the...
Acoustic communication and its variability in selected populations of ground squirrels of the genus Spermophilus
Schneiderová, Irena ; Vohralík, Vladimír (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
The thesis deals with vocalizations produced by Eurasian ground squirrels of the genus Spermophilus. It is mainly focused on inter-species and intra-species variability in acoustic structure of alarm calls which are emitted in presence of predators.The major part of the thesis deals with intra-species variability in acoustic structure of the alarm calls in five Eurasian ground squirrels, Spermophilus citellus, S. taurensis, S. xanthoprymnus, S. suslicus and S. fulvus. It has been confirmed that the alarm calls of these ground squirrels show a high level of species specificity. The thesis further describes another vocalizations produced by three Eurasian ground squirrel species, Spermophilus suslicus, S. citellus and S. fulvus, and shows that with the exception of the alarm calls, vocal repertoires of these three ground squirrels are remarkably similar. The last part of the thesis deals with individual distinctiveness of the alarm calls of three Eurasian ground squirrels, Spermophilus citellus, S. taurensis and S. xanthoprymnus. It has been shown that the alarm calls of these species have a significant potential to encode information about caller identity.
Reaction of Palearctic and Nearctic chickadees to sympatric and allopatric predators using feeder experiments: do regional differences in recognition of predators and determination of threat they are posing exist?
Lončík, Lukáš ; Fuchs, Roman (advisor) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
We have examined wild palearctic and nearctic parids in their ability to recognize and assess a threat level of sympatric and allopatric predators. The study was conducted in Prague, Czech republic, on great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Parus caeruleus) during the winter of 2013, and the following year in the city of Calgary, Canada, on black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). Three species of falcons (merlin (Falco columbarius), common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and american kestrel (Falco sparverius)), were chosen, two of which were sympatric and one was allopatric to the studied parid species in each area. We have also tested their reaction to nest predators magpies (eurasian magpie (Pica pica), black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia)). Using two ground feeders in the winter time, we gave parids a choice between a feeder with either one of the three dummies of falcons, or a magpie, and a feeder with a dummy of either a hawk (the most dangerous predator of small birds) or a dove (a harmless bird of the same size as falcons). As a control we have only used sympatric species: eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), Cooper's hawk (Acipiter cooperii), eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto) and mourning dove (Zenaida macroura). Results from the city of Calgary did not produce any...

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