Albert Einstein believed “we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” This quote, in my opinion, is particularly relevant for the academic literature that examines individual energy use. I believe that we have historically taken a categorized approach towards looking at individual energy use. Instead of thinking about multiple behaviours widely, we tend to look at individual behaviours deeply - focusing on electricity use, gas use, or travel behaviour in isolation instead of examining them simultaneously. For this reason, this thesis explores if and how an intervention aimed at one energy behaviour may influence or have untargeted effects on other energy behaviours across household energy use and personal travel behaviour from an interdisciplinary research perspective. The relevant literature is reviewed and an innovative methodology is devised to answer the research questions. By examining quantitative and qualitative data, the thesis evaluates the targeted and untargeted effects of an electricity display study across household energy and travel behaviours, assesses the influence that social and technical experiences with the display may have on behaviour, and explores how individuals conceptualize their energy usage to better understand untargeted effects. The findings indicate that 1) in a sample of 19 participants, 15 had untargeted effects in gas and 4 had untargeted effects in gas and travel, 2) the combined effect of social and technical experiences with the display can explain why an untargeted effect did or did not take place, and 3) participants perceived household energy as a resource but perceived travel as a means to move from one place to another. These findings lead to the development of a novel contribution of this research, known as the tangential effect. Contributions to theory and policy, an assessment of the methodological approach, and future research areas are given.

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Translocation programmes, particularly when using the release of a captive reared population, often fail in their efforts to create a self-sustaining population. High mortality after release is a key issue and often associated with behavioural, physiological and cognitive deficiencies between the released population and their wild counterparts. Mitigation of these deficiencies is essential for successful translocation programmes. I showed that pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) that were reared in more naturalistic conditions early in life were better suited to the natural environment after they were released into the wild. Post release survival was improved with exposure to more naturalistic diets prior to release. We identified four mechanisms to explain this. Pheasants reared with more naturalistic diets: 1) foraged for less time and had a higher likelihood of performing vigilance behaviours; 2) were quicker at handling live prey items; 3) were less reliant on supplementary feed which could be withdrawn; 4) developed different gut morphology. Consequently birds reduced the risk of predation by reducing exposure time whilst foraging, while allowing more time to be vigilant, were better at handling and discriminating natural food items and not solely reliant on supplementary feed and had a better gut system to cope with the natural forage. Post release survival was also improved when pheasants were reared with access to perches. We identified three mechanisms to explain this. Pheasants reared with access to perches had: 1) a physiology to better enable the birds to fly to the higher branches and cope with prolonged roosting; 2) a higher propensity to roost off the ground at night; and 3) more accurate spatial memory. Consequently, birds were at a reduced risk of terrestrial predation by roosting at night, and accurately remember their new environment upon release. I also showed that these manipulations did not compromise the welfare of the individuals prior to release, as often feared when trying to create a naturalistic environment to a captive population. An additional mechanism that can affect the success of a translocation programmes, operating at the level of the population, considers the optimality of the mixture of released individuals that can influence a release programme. The personality of birds within a released population, tested prior to release into the wild, influenced their fate and dispersal. I suggest a number of release mechanisms that would aid the survival of a diverse range of behavioural types that are essential for the production of a self-sustaining population in a fluctuating environment. I showed that harem size is strongly influenced by the vigilance behaviour of its constituent members. Despite a shared interest in increasing harem size, their optimal size is influenced by trade-offs in individual vigilance behaviour, resulting in relatively small harems, perhaps leading to females associating with less preferred males, and males being surrounded by fewer females than they could mate with. The aim of this study was to provide the background to future work trying to promote developments to allow for better reproductive success. I finally discussed these results and how they add to the current knowledge of captive-rearing and release, and examine the wider implications of my results from the pheasant rearing system for reintroduction biology. I calculate the likely costs of interventions and extrapolated the potential economic and environmental benefits of implementing changes to the current methods of rearing.

This thesis development of empirical. ABSTRACT , investigated play in two the ways: structure theoretical and and The theoretical section covers three areas. First, existing literature on animal play was reviewed to identify the basis for confusion in theories of animal play. Second, a discussion of the acquisition of the concept 'play' in humans, and its effect on our understanding of animal play revealed the appropriateness of the correct use of models and analogies in the study of play. Finally, the utility of Markov Chains, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and the Grammatical Model in studying play, were assessed. In Chapter Six an investigation of "thB . nevelopment \.1\3: "'e.~ of social play and object 'predation'~ s owed no major ontogenetic differences. In both cases, a) there was some evidence for age changes in the composition of play/'predation': b) the majority of observations could be accounted for by a group of five 'dominant' behaviour patterns. Chapter Seven examined the function o~ 1'r~EM~p."en Mouth Play Face (OMPF) as a. play signal. Resurts indicated that the OMPF did not function speci~iCallY as a play signal in young ferrets and puppies. However, the situation was reversed for adult ferrets. There was also evidence that the OMPF was related to arousal in a way not exhibited by other play behaviour patterns. Chap~i~ml~!Sht investiga~~~bf~~ential S~~~hture in social ptay~ OBject 'predation~ an~ aggressi8~.~~esults showed great variability in tne sequences of 'oehaviour in all three contexts. All three behavioural contexts showed little variability in the identity of bout initiators and terminators. The 'grammar' constructed failed to provide a formal description of social play, aggression or object 'predation':' These results suggest that many assumptions made about the structure of play, especially with regard to other behaviours, are invalid. The study of play should proceed in terms of identifying the structural configuration of sequences of social play.

Maternal behaviour during the peri-partum period, albeit in differing forms, can be observed in all mammals, thus it must serve an important evolutionary purpose in enabling the successful raising of offspring. Maternal behaviour is comprised of a large suite of behaviours; in rodents these are generally defined as lactation, pup retrieval, maternal aggression and pup grooming. The maternal behaviour circuitry involves many brain regions including the hypothalamus and the limbic system which work together to regulate the motor, motivational and emotional demands of the lactation period. The main aim of this thesis is to understand how different neuromodulators, specifically oxytocin (OXT), vasopressin (AVP), allopregnanolone (AP) and GABA, influence the expression of maternal behaviour, especially maternal aggression, and where in the brain they act to control this. Maternal aggression in rats changes dramatically throughout pregnancy, parturition and lactation. This expression is highly influenced by pups and during early lactation, pup cues are essential in maintaining it. Towards the end of lactation pup cues appear to result in the down regulation of maternal aggression. The maternal aggression circuitry is highly complex and involves many of the brain regions highlighted to be involved in maternal behaviour. The neuropeptides, OXT and AVP, are observed to have significant changes in their systems that correlate with maternal aggression, specifically within the BnST and PVN. This leads to the proposal they work oppositely to control maternal aggression by regulating fear and anxiety in the lactating rat. There is also evidence the OXT system mediates the motor output of maternal aggression. AP and GABA are also important in maternal behaviour, especially in relation to fear; whether this in context with OXT to enable maternal aggression or if they are a back up mechanism for OXT secretion malfunctioning remains to be determined. By understanding the complex maternal behaviour neural circuitry and how neuromodulators work to control it, enables the development of potential therapies for disorders a woman may experience during the peri-partum period. Prevention of these disorders is not only beneficial to the mother and her immediate family but is also crucial for her offspring’s development in prevention of adulthood disorders stemming from their childhood experience which can impact their own paternal or maternal care ability.

While the search for models and explanations of cognitive phenomena is a growing area of research, there is no consensus on what counts as a good explanation in cognitive science. This Ph.D. thesis offers a philosophical exploration of the different frameworks adopted to explain cognitive behaviour. It then builds on this systematic exploration to offer a new understanding of the explanatory standards employed in the construction and justification of models and modelling frameworks in cognitive science. Sub-goals of the project include a better understanding of some theoretical terms adopted in cognitive science and a deep analysis of the role of representation in explanations of cognitive phenomena. Results of this project can advance the debate on issues in general philosophy of cognitive science and be valuable for guiding future scientific and cognitive research. In particular, the goals of the thesis are twofold: (i) to provide some necessary desiderata that genuine explanations in cognitive science need to meet; (ii) to identify the framework that is most apt to generate such good explanations. With reference to the first goal, I claim that a good explanation needs to provide predictions and descriptions of mechanisms. With regards to the second goal, I argue that the neurocomputational framework can meet these two desiderata. In order to articulate the first claim, I discuss various possible desiderata of good explanations and I motivate why the ability to predict and to identify mechanisms are necessary features of good explanations in cognitive science. In particular, I claim that a good explanation should advance our understanding of the cognitive phenomenon under study, together with providing a clear specification of the components and their interactions that regularly bring the phenomenon about. I motivate the second claim by examining various frameworks employed to explain cognitive phenomena: the folk-psychological, the anti-representational, the solely subpersonal and the neurocomputational frameworks. I criticise the folk-psychological framework for meeting only the predictive criterion and I stress the inadequacy of its account of cause and causal explanation by engaging with James Woodward’s manipulationist theory of causation and causal explanation. By examining the anti-representational framework, I claim that the notion of representation is necessary to predict and to generalise cognitive phenomena. I reach the same conclusion by engaging with William Ramsey (2007) and Jose Luis Bermudez (2003). I then analyse the solely subpersonal framework and I argue that certain personal-level concepts are indeed required to successfully explain cognitive behaviour. Finally, I introduce the neurocomputational framework as more promising than the alternatives in explaining cognitive behaviour. I support this claim by assessing the framework’s ability to: (i) meet the two necessary criteria for good explanations; (ii) overcome some of the other frameworks’ explanatory limits. In particular, via an analysis of one of its family of models — Bayesian models — I argue that the neurocomputational framework can suggest a more adequate notion of representation, shed new light on the problem of how to bridge personal and subpersonal explanations, successfully meet the prediction criterion (it values predictions as a means to evaluate the goodness of an explanation) and can meet the mechanistic criterion (its model-based methodology opens up the possibility to study the nature of internal and unobservable components of cognitive phenomena).

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Tourism mitigation is a contentious issue that requires a multifaceted approach to effectively achieve. The need to reduce personal traveling expenditure in order to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions caused by tourism has not suitably been infiltrated within the public consciousness. Furthermore, those travellers who have been exposed to the reality that greenhouse gas emissions from tourism has often disregard that information and continue with their behaviour regardless.  This thesis aimed to investigate the reasons why those who travel the most in society, the hypermobile, choses to travel as much as they do and how this demand for travel could be curbed. It focused on three forms of tourism mitigation; government regulations, increases to the price of air travel and social marketing. The study was conducted with 10 individuals who self-identify as being highly mobile (more than 3 international return trips per year). The results showed that those who no single method of tourism mitigation would be effective in the goal of limiting highly mobile behavioural tendencies. A mixture of all three methods would be required in reaching the goal of lowering the levels of distance air travel consumption.

This research examines the implementation of marketing both by chain and online booksellers, and consumer responses to this marketing and a reading of the current trade press revealed calls for research into consumer wants and needs (Watson, 2002; Holman, 2007; Horner, 2007a). While BML (Book Marketing Limited) carries out a valuable range of research into publishing and bookselling on an ongoing basis, nevertheless, both are relatively new research areas, and bookselling is particularly underdeveloped. It would appear that research in the field of bookselling has yet to be examined in an academic context. With specific respect to the development of a comprehensive understanding of consumer responses to bookshop marketing, the research is original, timely and useful, and builds upon the foundations of existing research, as detailed above. The mixed-method approach adopted in this study enhanced the level of triangulation possible, with interviews, surveys and focus groups serving to consolidate and support sets of results. This empirical research has uncovered rich source material from consumers both online and offline, revealing complex responses to traditional and online bookselling environments. Key original findings include: the widespread perception of homogeneity across chain bookshops by consumers; the presence of a coffee shop can enhance the concept of the bookshop as a social space and that consumer behaviour online was found to tend towards linear, goal-oriented book buying, whereas traditional book shopping tends to be much more about browsing, and have a serendipitous quality to it. The research has developed a comprehensive understanding of the approaches to marketing taken by chain booksellers, but more especially, the range of consumer responses and behaviour in both traditional chain and online bookshops. It has built upon the existing scholarly material available in these fields, as well as extending and developing research in the new academic field of bookselling. There is considerable scope for further investigation in both traditional and online bookselling, as outlined in the Conclusions chapter, building on the findings emerging from this research.