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Abstract

The ecological approach to the study of behavior focuses upon analyses of behavior in terms of situational context and the distribution of specific behaviors over different locales. Such work has been primarily identified with the school of behavioral ecology developed by Roger Barker and Herbert Wright at the University of Kansas, who, with the aid of a small army of devoted disciples, have been carrying on a vigorous program of research on relationships between “behavior settings” and human activities. While these behavioral ecologists have been inclined to define behavioral settings in institutional rather than physical terms, the approach nevertheless occupies an important place on the environment-behavior scene, especially the work that has dealt with community and institutional size, and the concept of under-versus over-manned settings.

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© 1981 Plenum Press, New York

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Wohlwill, J.F., Weisman, G.D. (1981). Behavioral Ecology. In: The Physical Environment and Behavior. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9227-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9227-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9229-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9227-3

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