Cognition is the mechanism by which animals acquire, process, store, and act on information from the environment, including perception, learning, memory, and decision-making (Shettleworth 2009a). Comparative cognition aims to investigate how cognitive skills are distributed across taxa, and thus find the socio-ecological challenges that might explain this distribution (Healy et al. 2009; MacLean et al. 2012). As a result, comparative cognition allows researchers to find variations in problem-solving abilities, better understand the processes that lead to the emergence of complex cognition, and understand the evolutionary challenges that are linked to the emergence of specific skills (Barrett et al. 2002; Bueno-Guerra and Amici 2018; Dunbar 1992; Harcourt et al. 1988; MacLean et al. 2012; Shettleworth 2009a). In their natural environment, animals face a variety of ecological and social challenges. Theories of cognitive evolution suggest that these challenges have favoured the emergence of cognitive skills that allow individuals to better cope with the requirements they encounter in their ecological niches, like foraging or interacting with conspecifics (Ashton et al. 2018; Holekamp 2007; Tomasello and Call 1997). Therefore, cognitive skills usually evolve when individuals face specific problems, either in a physical context (i.e., cognitive processes used to solve physical problems) or in a social context (i.e., cognitive processes used to interact with social partners). In my thesis, I focus on physical cognition and object understanding, which includes how animals deal with inanimate objects and what they understand about their spatial, temporal, and causal relations. One reason why some species may have evolved different cognitive abilities is that they face specific ecological challenges which the evolution of complex cognition, and thus greater behavioural flexibility, allows to overcome more efficiently. These ecological challenges include, for example, dietary breadth or domestication. Moreover, social challenges may also constitute a strong selection pressure for the evolution of enhanced cognitive abilities. When social life is complex, individuals must use flexible cognitive strategies to recognize other individuals, keep track of their relationships, and predict, coordinate and manipulate their behaviours. Unlike objects, social partners are reactive, unpredictable and respond with different behaviours to one's actions; therefore, social complexity would present high cognitive challenges and strong selection pressures for the evolution of cognition. Social challenges include, for example, living in large groups, frequently engaging in social interactions, or showing fission-fusion dynamics. Apart from interspecific variation, cognition also varies across conspecific individuals, depending on factors such as sex, age, rank, social integration or early life experiences. In addition to these characteristics, personality traits (i.e., interindividual behavioural differences that are consistent over time and across contexts) may also influence performance on cognitive tasks. In this project, I used ungulates as a model to directly test socio-ecological hypotheses about the evolution of cognition. Ungulates are an ideal model to test cognitive abilities from a comparative perspective. First, they show an impressive diversity of socio-ecological traits, which allows for a reliable contrast of different evolutionary hypotheses. Second, there are very few studies that have examined the relationship between cognition and socio-ecological traits in ungulates, and the largest majority have used neuroanatomical proxies for cognitive skills. Third, although ungulates are economically important for humans, we still know little about their cognition, and about the cognitive enrichments that might be used to improve their welfare. This thesis aimed to test variation in different cognitive skills across several ungulate species, to assess the ecological, social and individual factors that best explain inter- and intra-specific variation in their cognitive abilities. I used well-established experimental procedures to test individuals´ object permanence, short-term memory, causality, understanding of object properties, gravity and quantity discrimination skills. Further, I tested individuals´ neophobic reactions to new objects. All tests were carried out on captive individuals in the zoos of Leipzig (Germany) and Barcelona (Spain), and partially in other European zoos. I tested the following species in one or more studies: goats (Capra aegagrus hircus), llamas (Lama glama), guanacos (Lama guanicoe), Grevy’s zebras (Equus grevyi), Chapman’s zebras (Equus burchelli chapmanni), rhinos (Diceros bicornis michaeli), giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi), European bisons (Bison bonasus), Forest buffalos (Syncerus caffer nanus), oryx (Oryx dammah), dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius), red deer (Cervus elaphus), barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), Przewalski horses (Equus ferus przewalskii), and sheep (Ovis aries). In summary, 15 different ungulate species were tested in well-established experimental procedures to test individuals´ object permanence, short-term memory, causality, understanding of object properties, gravity and quantity discrimination skills. Further, individuals´ neophobic reactions to new objects were tested. In the first paper on neophobia, I tested neophobic responses to novel objects in different ungulate species and found differences both within and across species. In particular, more socially integrated individuals were more neophobic than less central ones, showing a higher latency to approach food that was closer to a novel object. Further, Barbary sheep were less neophobic than all the other species and spent a higher proportion of time close to novel objects. In the second paper, I tested whether higher levels of fission-fusion dynamics predict better cognitive skills. I found Grevy´s zebras (which are characterized by higher fission-fusion dynamics) to perform better than Chapman´s zebras in tasks requiring inference and quantity discrimination skills. In the third paper, I tested the cognitive skills of ungulates in different object-understanding tasks and showed that all species were able to understand that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight, remember the location of objects after delays of up to 60 seconds (short-term memory), and infer the location of the food from the presence or lack of sound produced when shaking containers. I found that subjects, across species, had some understanding of object properties and gravity, being able to locate food behind one of the two occluders based on their shape and inclination, and searching for falling food in the correct location. In the fourth paper, individuals performed above chance levels in most conditions of the Numerosity and Size tasks, in which they had to rely on item number and size to maximize food intake. Overall, I detected inter- and intra-specific variation across the cognitive tasks performed. The socio-ecological factors that explained the inter-specific variation were domestication (i.e., species that have been selected for living in close relationships with humans), group size (i.e., the actual size of the tested group) and fission-fusion dynamics (i.e., individuals living in groups frequently splitting into subgroups of varying size and composition). Apart from inter-specific variation, I could also detect inter-individual variation, with socially more integrated individuals being more neophobic. Taken together, the results of my thesis show that different inter- and intra-specific factors lead to variation in cognitive skills between ungulate species.

Psicologia e Ecologia são duas áreas onde se expressa com a qualidade de vida do ser humano. O processo de degradação ambiental com o uso irracional dos recursos não renováveis é uma preocupação crescente da população mundial. A busca de um meio ambiente saudável para todos é perpassado por processos de aprendizagem e construção de identidade dos indivíduos. A psicologia busca alternativas para auxiliar nesta conquista através de muitas áreas, como a psicologia ambiental, psicologia social entre outras. Neste trabalho proponho a análise da ecologia nos processos de defesa ambiental através da Psicologia Moral. É importante para a psicologia moral estender seu campo de análise a áreas fundamentais da necessidade e relações humanas, e nesta relação com a ecologia as pesquisas são incipientes. A tese que se apresenta é de que a ecologia é moral. Líderes ambientais do estado de Rondônia, selecionados através do método de Bom Meihy (1996) para a construção de redes, ao falar de suas atividades na defesa ambiental, descrever o histórico através do qual construíram uma consciência ecológica, apresentar um juízo moral através de dilemas e entrevistas inquérito, corroboram a tese, demonstrando a existência de uma personalidade moral ecológica, baseada na análise subjetiva da justiça e princípios éticos universais. Os líderes apresentam também uma ética ecológica, uma ética verde, baseada na sustentabilidade. São referenciais teóricos da psicologia moral, Kant (1785/1936), Piaget (1932), Kohlberg (1955) e Puig (1998). O trabalho apresenta ainda as áreas da ecopedagogia, ecofilosofia, ecopsicologia e psicologia ambiental e debate a problemática ambiental contemporânea. / Psychology and Ecology are two areas on which it is linked with quality of life. The process of environmental degradation due to the irrational use of non renewable resources is a great concern all over the world. The search for a healthy environment for everyone is followed by the learning process and the formation of individual character. Psychology seeks alternatives such as environmental psychology, social psychology and others in order to give support on that issue. The following paper proposes the analyses of ecology based on the environmental defense process using the Moral Psychology. It’s important to the Moral psychology to broaden its analytical field to fundamental areas linked to human needs and based on this same relation with ecology, as far as it concerns, the researches can be considered incipient. The following thesis support the argument that ecology is moral Environmental liders from Rondonia, selected by the Bom Meihy’s Methody for the formation of nets; when questioned about their activities concerning environmental defense, the historical process on which it was built on ecological concern to present a moral judge based on dilemmas and interviews, corrobate the thesis, showing a moral environment personality existence based on the subjective analyses of justice and ethical principles. The liders also present an ecological ethic, a “green" ethic based on sustainability. It can be mentioned important references from the Moral Psychology, as it follows. Kant (1785, 1936), Piaget, Kolberg (1955) and Puig (1998). This paper also presents studies that join Ecology to Education, Philosophy, Psychology and Environmental Psychology and it discuss the current problems of our environment.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-17T14:55:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2364966 bytes, checksum: d7434af52b65fc72aebc83b04b51d289 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / We investigated the contribution of ecological and historical factors in determining patterns of lizard assemblage structure from an Atlantic forest fragment, analyzing microhabitat use, diet composition and morphology. We collected the lizards with pitfall traps, glue traps and active visual search. We recorded 16 species belonging to eight families. The principal components analysis revealed a cluster in morphological space of Teiidae species and moderate in Gymnophthalmidae, suggesting the importance of historical factors in the morphology of these species. The null model showed that the assemblage is structured based on microhabitat use, but not in diet composition. Patterns of structure found in microhabitat use, as well as, the absence of pattern in prey selection seems to be determined by the evolutionary history of species, being competitive interactions not determinant, which is supported by the results of canonical phylogenetic ordination that revealed the significant influence of the historical aspects, related to the phylogenetic relationships of species, in microhabitat use in Teiidae, as well as, in diet composition of Iguania. / Foi investigada a contribuição dos fatores ecológicos e históricos, na determinação dos padrões de estruturação da taxocenose de lagartos de um fragmento de floresta atlântica, analisando parâmetros de utilização do espaço, composição da dieta e morfometria das espécies. A coleta dos lagartos foi realizada através da utilização de armadilhas e de procura visual ativa. Foram registradas 16 espécies pertencentes a 8 famílias. A análise de componentes principais revelou um agrupamento no espaço morfológico de espécies pertencentes à família Teiidae e moderado para Gymnophthalmidae, sugerindo a ação de fatores históricos na morfologia das espécies. Os modelos nulos mostraram que a comunidade está estruturada com relação à utilização dos microhábitats disponíveis, mas não em relação à composição da dieta. Os padrões de estruturação encontrados na utilização do espaço, assim como, a ausência de padrão na seleção das presas, parecem ser determinados pela história evolutiva das espécies, não revelando interações competitivas presentes, o que é corroborado pela ordenação canônica filogenética que revelou a influência significativa dos aspectos históricos, relacionados às relações filogenéticas das espécies, na utilização do espaço pela família Teiidae, assim como na composição alimentar de Iguania.

Psicologia e Ecologia são duas áreas onde se expressa com a qualidade de vida do ser humano. O processo de degradação ambiental com o uso irracional dos recursos não renováveis é uma preocupação crescente da população mundial. A busca de um meio ambiente saudável para todos é perpassado por processos de aprendizagem e construção de identidade dos indivíduos. A psicologia busca alternativas para auxiliar nesta conquista através de muitas áreas, como a psicologia ambiental, psicologia social entre outras. Neste trabalho proponho a análise da ecologia nos processos de defesa ambiental através da Psicologia Moral. É importante para a psicologia moral estender seu campo de análise a áreas fundamentais da necessidade e relações humanas, e nesta relação com a ecologia as pesquisas são incipientes. A tese que se apresenta é de que a ecologia é moral. Líderes ambientais do estado de Rondônia, selecionados através do método de Bom Meihy (1996) para a construção de redes, ao falar de suas atividades na defesa ambiental, descrever o histórico através do qual construíram uma consciência ecológica, apresentar um juízo moral através de dilemas e entrevistas inquérito, corroboram a tese, demonstrando a existência de uma personalidade moral ecológica, baseada na análise subjetiva da justiça e princípios éticos universais. Os líderes apresentam também uma ética ecológica, uma ética verde, baseada na sustentabilidade. São referenciais teóricos da psicologia moral, Kant (1785/1936), Piaget (1932), Kohlberg (1955) e Puig (1998). O trabalho apresenta ainda as áreas da ecopedagogia, ecofilosofia, ecopsicologia e psicologia ambiental e debate a problemática ambiental contemporânea. / Psychology and Ecology are two areas on which it is linked with quality of life. The process of environmental degradation due to the irrational use of non renewable resources is a great concern all over the world. The search for a healthy environment for everyone is followed by the learning process and the formation of individual character. Psychology seeks alternatives such as environmental psychology, social psychology and others in order to give support on that issue. The following paper proposes the analyses of ecology based on the environmental defense process using the Moral Psychology. It’s important to the Moral psychology to broaden its analytical field to fundamental areas linked to human needs and based on this same relation with ecology, as far as it concerns, the researches can be considered incipient. The following thesis support the argument that ecology is moral Environmental liders from Rondonia, selected by the Bom Meihy’s Methody for the formation of nets; when questioned about their activities concerning environmental defense, the historical process on which it was built on ecological concern to present a moral judge based on dilemmas and interviews, corrobate the thesis, showing a moral environment personality existence based on the subjective analyses of justice and ethical principles. The liders also present an ecological ethic, a “green” ethic based on sustainability. It can be mentioned important references from the Moral Psychology, as it follows. Kant (1785, 1936), Piaget, Kolberg (1955) and Puig (1998). This paper also presents studies that join Ecology to Education, Philosophy, Psychology and Environmental Psychology and it discuss the current problems of our environment.

Šis magistrinis darbas yra tarptautinio tiriamojo projekto, atlikto Latvijoje, Lietuvoje ir Lenkijoje, dalis. Paminėto projekto tikslas buvo ištirti politikos varomąsias jėgas, lemiančias miško naudojimą išvardintose šalyse. Šio magistrinio darbo tyrimų objektas - Lietuva, tačiau taip pat buvo atlikta palyginamoji analizė, dėl galimų miško naudojimo pokyčių per sekančius dešimt – dvidešimt metų, Latvijoje, Lietuvoje ir Lenkijoje. Vertinant miško naudojimą lemiančius faktorius, pirmiausia, būtina išanalizuoti ir socialinės sistemos ir pačius socialinius pasikeitimus kurie daro didelę įtaką ir miškų sektoriui (Shanz 1999), taip pat tiesiogiai nulemia miško naudojimo lygį šalyje, ypač kai visuomenė pereina nuo socialistinės prie kapitalistinės sistemos. Pasirinkta socialinė santvarka apibrėžia politikos tikslus, ir nustato veikimo ribas tiek patiems politikams tiek ir suinteresuotoms grupėms (Springate – Baginski, Soussan 2004). Toliau priimami politiniai sprendimai yra įtakojami įvairių suinteresuotų interesų grupių įvairiose politinių sprendimų priėmimo stadijose tiek kalbant apie bendrąją politiką, tiek ir politiką susijusią su miškų ūkiu. Būtina pabrėžti, kad vienas iš svarbiausių miškų ūkio politikos tikslų – miško naudojimo lygio nustatymas. Toliau, suinteresuotų grupių veikimo pagrindas yra vieni ar kiti interesai, kuriuos jos atstovauja, suformuoti ekonominių, ekologinių, ar socialinių faktorių (Krott 2005). Minėti faktoriai galėtų būti apibūdinami vienu žodžiu – žinios... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This work is a part of international research that was carried out in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in order to investigate policy drivers behind the harvesting level in these countries. This thesis was focused on Lithuania. However, a comparative analysis of future tendencies for possible harvesting levels in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland was done as well. First of all, it is necessary to point out the importance of a social system and social changes that are of great importance to forestry (Shanz 1999) and have a decisive impact on a harvesting level, especially when a society moves from socialist planning system to market economy. Further, the harvesting level is influenced by interests of stakeholders and their games of power in the decision making process. The interests of stakeholders are formed by ecological, economical and social factors (Krott 2005). These factors form the basis of stakeholders’ knowledge that gives directions for further actions (Krott 2005). The understanding of policy drivers for the harvesting level in Lithuania is not possible without the understanding of Lithuanian stakeholders’ interests and their power in the national decision-making process. For defining policy drivers in Lithuania, methodological triangulation (Denscombe 1998), combining literature and inventory data analysis with questionnaire and expert interview methods, was used. The questionnaire and expert interview methods were based on a qualitative research approach, and in total... [to full text]

Air pollution is ranked by the World Health Organisation as one of the top ten contributors to the global burden of disease and injury. Epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to air pollution is associated with cardiorespiratory diseases. However, most of the previous studies have looked at this issue using air pollution data from a single monitoring site or average values from a few monitoring sites in a city. There is increasing concern that the relationships between air pollution and mortality may vary with geographical area, particularly for a big city. This thesis consisted of three interlinked studies that aimed to examine the spatial variation in the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane, Australia. The first study evaluated the long-term air pollution trends in Brisbane, Australia. Air pollution data used in this study were provided by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (QEPA). The data comprised the daily average concentrations of particulate matter less then 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 2004 in two monitoring sites (i.e. Eagle farm and Rocklea), and in other available monitoring sites between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2004. Computerised data files of daily mortality between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2004 in Brisbane city were provided by the Office of Economic and Statistical Research of the Queensland Treasury. Population data and the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) data in 2001 were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for each statistical local area (SLA) of the Brisbane city. The long-term air pollution (the daily maximum 1-hour average or daily 24-hour average concentrations of NO2, O3 and PM10) trends were evaluated using a polynomial regression model in two monitoring sites (Eagle Farm and Rocklea) in Brisbane, Australia, between 1980 and 2003. The study found that there were significant up-and-down features for air pollution concentrations in both monitoring sites in Brisbane. Rocklea recorded a substantially higher number of days with concentrations above the relevant daily maximum 1-hour or 24-hour standards than that in Eagle Farm. Additionally, there was a significant spatial variation in air pollution concentrations between these areas. Therefore, the results indicated a need to examine the spatial variation in the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane. The second study examined the spatial variation of SO2 concentrations and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane between 1999 and 2001. Air pollutant concentrations were estimated using geographical information systems (GIS) techniques at a SLA level. Spatial distribution analysis and a multivariable logistic regression model were employed to investigate the impact of gaseous air pollution on cardiorespiratory mortality after adjusting for potential confounding effects of age, sex, calendar year and SEIFA. The results of this study indicate that for every 1 ppb increase in annual average SO2 concentration, there was an estimated increase of 4.4 % (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.4 - 7.6 %) and 4.8 % (95 % CI: 2.0 - 7.7 %) in cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory mortality, respectively. We estimated that the excess number of cardiorespiratory deaths attributable to SO2 was 312 (3.4% of total cardiorespiratory deaths) in Brisbane during the study period. Our results suggest that long-term exposure to SO2, even at low levels, is a significant hazard to population health. The final study examined the association of long-term exposure to gaseous air pollution (including NO2, O3 and SO2) with cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane, Australia, 1996 - 2004. The pollutant concentrations were estimated using GIS techniques at a SLA level. Logistic regression was used to investigate the impact of NO2, O3 and SO2 on cardiorespiratory mortality after adjusting for potential confounding effects of age, sex, calendar year and SEIFA. The study found that there was an estimated 3.1% (95% CI: 0.4 - 5.8%) and 0.5% (95% CI: -0.03 - 1.3 %) increase in cardiorespiratory mortality for 1 ppb increment in annual average concentration of SO2 and O3, respectively. However there was no significant relationship between NO2 and cardiorespiratory mortality observed in the multiple gaseous pollutants model. The results also indicated that long-term exposure to gaseous air pollutants in Brisbane, even at the levels lower than most cities in the world (especially SO2), were associated with cardiorespiratory mortality. Therefore, spatial patterns of gaseous air pollutants and their impact on health outcomes need to be assessed for an evaluation of long-term effects of air pollution on population health in metropolitan areas. This study examined the relationship between air pollution and health outcomes. GIS and relevant mapping technologies were used to display the spatial patterns of air pollution and cardiorespiratory mortality at a SLA level. The results of this study show that long-term exposure to gaseous air pollution was associated with cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane and this association appeared to vary with geographic area. These findings may have important public health implications in the control and prevention of air pollution-related health effects, since now many countries and governments have paid more attention to control wide spread air pollution and to protect our environment and human health.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-17T14:55:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.PDF: 1079008 bytes, checksum: 6627885b56d1a7d7174f7cbfaceacfb7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In theroy, the influence of phylogeny in community structure implies that phylogenetically close species may show similar characteristics determined by their evolutionary history. In a fine scale, this is useful to identify processes of microevolution. We used phylogenetic and ecological data to investigate the determinant factors of the relationships among 15 anuran species in temporary ponds in Caatinga. Phylogenetically close species used the same categories of microhabitat, but they differed in usage proportion. Considering diet, overlap values were high in phylogenetically related species and these species tended to form concise groups. Analysis based on null models indicated no significant values of overlap in microhabitat usage and diet composition, showing that competition is unlikely to regulate assemblage structure. Species belonging to the same phylogenetic lineage occupied the same morphological space, suggesting that morphometry may be a conservative trait; however, some close related species have diverged in this pattern. The joint observation of microhabitat usage, diet composition, and morphology indicated the existence of similarities among phylogenetically related species. Canonical Phylogenetic Correlation Analysis revealed the presence of niche phylogenetic conservatism in microhabitat usage in Hylidae and Leptodactyliformes basal dichotomy and in diet composition of the Physalaemus genus. In this work, it is considered that the phylogenetic relationships influence assemblage structure. However, the observation of differences in resource usage among closely related species and similarities among unrelated species suggests the existence of ecological factors acting at some moment of the evolution of these organisms. / Teoricamente a influência da filogenia na estrutura de comunidades implica que espécies próximas filogeneticamente podem apresentar características semelhantes determinadas pela sua história evolutiva. Em uma escala fina isto é útil na identificação de processos de micro-evolução. Aqui utilizamos dados ecológicos e filogenéticos para investigar os fatores determinantes das relações entre 15 espécies de anuros em poças temporárias na Caatinga. Espécies próximas filogeneticamente utilizaram as mesmas categorias de microhábitats, mas diferiram na proporção do uso. Considerando a dieta, valores de sobreposição foram altos em espécies relacionadas filogeneticamente e estas tenderam a formar grupos concisos. Uma análise baseada em modelos nulos indicou valores não significativos de sobreposição no uso do microhábitat e na composição da dieta, evidenciando que a competição não parece regular a estrutura da taxocenose. Espécies damesma linhagem filogenética ocuparam o mesmo espaço morfológico sugerindo que a morfometria pode ser um traço conservativo, no entanto, algumas espécies próximas divergiram deste padrão. A observação conjunta do uso do microhábitat, composição da dieta e morfologia indicou a existência de similaridades entre espécies relacionada filogeneticamente. Análise de Correlação Filogenética Canônica revelou presença de conservação filogenética de nicho no uso do microhábitat na dicotomia basal Hylidae eLeptodactyliformes e na composição da dieta do gênero Physalaemus. Aqui consideramos que as relações filogenéticas exercem influência sobre a estrutura da taxocenose, no entanto, a observação de diferenças no uso dos recursos entre espécies próximas e similaridades entre espécies não relacionadas sugere a existência de fatores ecológicos atuando em algum momento da evolução destes organismos.

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This research is concerned with an investigation into the factors relating to the reading habits of Indian secondary school pupils in the Phoenix area. It is important to acknowledge that among our youth there are both avid and reluctant readers during and after the period of formal education. It is the group of reluctant readers that has to be lured by the magic of reading. There is a remarkable variation in the reading habits of pupils from the same school. A self-designed questionnaire was administered to 544 boys and girls from standards 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The descriptive data available were then analysed and interpreted. The study revealed that the amount of time spent on reading and the number of books read (which together determined reading habits) by pupils was influenced by such factors as home, school, social environment, socioeconomic status, the influence of other media and the personal aspect / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

À partir des années 1970 et notamment à travers les travaux de Tüxen (1978) puis de Géhu & Rivas-Martínez (1981), la phytosociologie dynamico-caténale a permis de mieux intégrer la dynamique des végétations en décrivant plus finement les trajectoires dynamiques des séries de végétation. Si les méthodologies d’étude des dynamiques des végétations se sont multipliées depuis les dernières décennies en Europe, de tels travaux restent peu nombreux en France. Un programme national de Cartographie des Habitats naturels et semi-naturels (CarHAB), lancé par le Ministère de l’Écologie, du Développement Durable et de l’Énergie, à partir de 2011, a pour objectif de cartographier les végétations et les séries de végétation de France métropolitaine à l’échelle du 1 : 25 000 d’ici 2025. Dans ce contexte, la Corse a été choisie comme région "pilote" pour les particularités de ses végétations méditerranéenne et alticole. Au-delà de cette singularité, l’évolution de la société agropastorale au cours du XXe siècle a profondément marqué le paysage végétal de Corse et constitue une des problématiques fondamentales permettant d’appréhender les changements des trajectoires dynamiques des végétations. La démarche méthodologique repose sur une méthode inductive et semi-déductive qui permet de décrire les systèmes de végétation de la Corse, à partir d’une approche phytosociologique. Notre étude, d’abord consacrée à l’approche bioclimatique, géomorphologique et phytogéographique, permet de typifier et de spatialiser les unités écologiques (géologie, géomorphologie, pédologie et bioclimatologie) afin de mieux appréhender les patrons écologiques qui régissent l’agencement et les zonations des végétations et plus largement les séries et les géoséries de végétation. Les fondements de la phytosociologie paysagère ont été révisés et adaptés aux objectifs de gestion conservatoire et d’aménagement du territoire, dans le cadre du programme CarHAB. 78 unités, soit 34 séries, 14 minoriséries et 30 géopermaséries sont décrites selon plusieurs critères : écologie, chorologie, structure et nomenclature de la tête de série, trajectoires dynamiques et conservation. Une méthode cartographique a été élaborée pour spatialiser les unités sigmétales et géosigmétales. L’ensemble des travaux cartographiques est présenté sous la forme d’un atlas cartographique concernant huit vallées et plateaux (Asco, Cap Corse, Niolu, Castagniccia, Haut-Vénacais, Plateau du Cuscione, Plateau calcaire de Bonifacio) et 31 sites littoraux.Quelques méthodes de bioévaluation sont testées et discutées, pour répondre aux enjeux de conservation des séries et des géoséries de végétation ainsi que de territoires protégés (étang de Biguglia, massif du Haut-Vénacais). / Since the 1970’s and particularly through the works of Tüxen (1978) and Géhu & Rivas-Martínez (1981), the dynamico-catenal phytosociology allowed to better integrate vegetation dynamics, by describing more precisely the dynamic trajectories of vegetation series. If vegetations dynamic study methodologies have been developped over the recent decades in Europe, such works still remain scarce in France. A national program of habitat mapping (CarHAB), launched by the Ministry of Ecology, since 2011, aims to map the vegetation and vegetation series of metropolitan France at the scale of 1: 25 000 up to 2025. Within this context, Corsica has been chosen as a "pilot" region, due to its peculiarities regarding mediterranean and alticole vegetations. Beyond this singularity, the evolution of agropastoral society over the twentieth century caused main changes the landscape of Corsica and represents a major issue to understand the changes of dynamic trajectories of vegetation. Our methodology, based on an inductive and semi-deductive phytosociological approach, allows to describe vegetationsystems of Corsica.This study, firstly focused on bioclimatology, geomorphology and phytogeography, allows to typify and spatialize ecological units, in order to better understand ecological patterns that govern the layout and the zonation of vegetation and more widely vegetation series and geoseries. The principles of landscape phytosociology have been revised and adapted to the conservation management aims and spatial planning of the CarHAB program. 78 units, 34 series, 14 minoriseries and 30 geopermaseries are presented according to several descriptive criteria: ecology, chorology, serie head structure and nomenclature, dynamics trajectories and conservation.A mapping method was developed to spatialize sigmetal and geosigmetal units : the outcomes are presented in a mapping atlas concerning eight valleys and trays (Asco, Cap Corse, Niolu, Fium-Alto, Haut-Vénacais, Cuscione, Bonifacio) and 31 coastal sites.A few bioevaluation methods are tested and discussed to match the challenges of conservation series and vegetation géoséries, as well as evaluation protected sites (Biguglia, Haut-Vénacais).