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Semantic function of the mammalian tail in the design of anal pole of the body
Baxa, Marek ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Kleisner, Karel (referee)
The tail in mammals is an important organ, which in contrast to most vertebrae, doesn't add to the motor function of their bodies. The use of the mamals' tail is much more varied and it can fulfill many different functions. This work includes a survey of these functions and analyzes collected data concerning 553 spieces of mammals across all families. The data includes information about the length of tail, the length of body, body mass, living environment and outer signs on the anal pole of these species. The resulting analysis concludes that the tail length is dependent both on the length of the mammal's body and its living environment. Outward signs of the tail depend on its length as well as the length of the body and the living environment. Distinctive tail ending and tail base probably fulfill a communicative function. The tail is more likely to have communication than cryptic significance.
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The Contribution of Oskar Heiroth to the Formation of Classical German Ethology
Bradáč, Ondřej ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Hermann, Tomáš (referee)
Oskar Heinroth was a German zoologist and is frequently considered as the founder of ethology. Thanks to his lifetime observing of animals, especially birds, made he the conclusion that movement, display of behavior and other signs which haven't been taken into account until his days are equally important for the right animal classification as morphology. He is a discoverer of species typical instinctive behavior and he observed as the first one several other ethological phenomenons as imprinting, drop-off of the treshold value of the signal or idle-running reactions. He iniciated a more pragmatic sight into animal psychics and laid foundations of ethological methodics. Thanks to his publication a darwinistic attitude got access into psychological sciences. Regarding his evidence Konrad Lorenz, Erich von Holst and Nicholas Tinbergen constituted ethology as integrated science, which has later been confirmed on the premisies of universities.
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Psychiatry, mental illness and culture
Müller, Matyáš ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Fulka, Josef (referee)
The aim of the dissertation is to treat psychiatry and mental illness from the anthropological point of view. The topic is treated at three levels. First, I describe psychiatry as a specific culture's product, and I explore how it constitutes itself as an unbiased science. I conclude that in spite of developing its scientific aspect, its human-science aspect is neglected, stuck in the 19th century's paradigm of evolutionism. Although there is a number of sources of a new less scientistic and ethnocentric and more reflexive paradigm nowadays, it still seems to be more a vision than reality due to the institutional toughness of the present paradigm. Second, I study "mental illness" as an abstract concept. I ask if the Western psychiatry's classification is universal and I explore various culturally specific forms of mental illness and its conceptualizations. Third, partially grounded in my fieldwork, I ask how abstract psychiatric terminology is embodied in a concrete human being and how the sufferer's point of view differs from the one of the professional in the mental health care. The dissertation intends to show that despite all the three levels being interlocked, their unity is not self-evident but is always constructed and contested.
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Biological and related theories of aggression and its humoral regulation
Bradáč, Ondřej ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Havlíček, Jan (referee)
Aggression is a phenomenon which acquired a substantial share on attention of biological literature, especially since the beginning of 20th century. In this thesis, various approaches to the problem from the field of biology are summarized. Intensified attention is dedicated to the theoretical concepts of aggression, especially the concepts consulting the problem of aggression from the evolutionary point of view and to the research on the field of hormonal regulation of aggression, stressing out the role of the hormone testosterone, and to particular hypothesis, which take account on its mutual relationship with behavior. The empirical part of the thesis is dedicated to verification of premises of the challenge hypothesis according to the relationship between testosterone and aggressive behavior. Significant findings of the empirical part refer to the existence of a link between basal level of testosterone and aggressive tendencies and to the existence of a negative link between basal level of testosterone and its increase in reaction to a competitive situation.
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