ABSTRACT
The conceptual tools used to investigate animal behavior not only limit our abilities to explain reality, they also reflect the ways in which human thought processes are structured by biological organs and cultural legacy. Miscommunication regarding interpretation and explanation of animal behavior has occurred when researchers differed in their definition of and style of addressing a problem. This chapter defines a basic integrative structure used by ethologists in analyzing behavior and identifies some of the limitations of linear approaches to modeling behavior in heterogeneous environments. It illustrate some ways that Al concepts can be used to overcome such limitations. This is quite a different approach from the usual discussion of how artificial intelligence relates to the cognitive capacities demonstrated by human and nonhuman animals. The chapter provides some background so readers have a better perspective on the experiences that have shaped our view of the question "how have conceptual tools influenced the interpretation and explanation of behavior".
