Wolf Behavior vs. Human Behavior Vs. Werewolf Behavior?

[ladygrail]

Currently I am working on my Masters in Special Education with a focus on Positive Behavioral Supports which means when I complete my schooling I will become a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst, i.e. a Behavioral Scientist.

I have been reading numerous articles on human behaviors, communication, reinforcement, and such and began to do research into wolf and dog behavior as well. Heck my first text book on how to apply behavioral techniques was called "Don't Shoot the Dog" which got me to thinking...

One of the reasons I love the weres in Laurell K Hamilton and the Patricia Briggs Novels is because both authors try to illustrate, discuss, and flesh out how wolf behavior would be incorporated with human behavior when someone became a werewolf. LKH does this with other animal behavior as well, but for this discussion, of course I am going to focus on werewolf behavior.

There have been numerous studies on how wolves evolves into the common dog. I have watched numerous documentaries on the subject, talked to two different wolf/wolf-dog rescue programs, and read about a dozen articles on the subject, thus wanted to open this up to discussion with the Pack.

There are many stories where a person becomes a werewolf and looses all sense of their humanity. There are stories where the person who is a werewolf has these two sides at war within themselves, and there are stories where the human personality just wins out every time. But what exactly are the behaviors demonstrated by werewolves that makes them not only different from humans but different from wolves and from dogs?

One of the key studies I read talked a great deal about the domestication process of dogs from wolves. How mankind has breed a species that is totally co-dependent on them (i.e. man's best friend) and the clearest indicator was an illustration where a wolf was given a piece of meat in a cage and allowed to problem solve to get at the meat. This was a wolf who had been raised around humans and had its caregiver there in the room. The wolf tried with all its might to get at the meat but eventually became frustrated and gave up after demonstrated some aggressive behaviors. The same test was set up for a dog and the dog went through the similar steps of trying to get to the meat but then when it was unable to get at the meat on its own the dog did the extraordinary thing which was look to its human handler to get to the meat for the dog. This was demonstrated again when a dog could be trained to look to where a human was pointing to get its reward. No other animal besides humans has this trait from what I have read thus far. How might this translate to werewolves?

Back to human behavior vs. wolf behavior, when would this come up in everyday lie for a werewolf? LKH has very overt behaviors when the Pack in her stories comes together and the werewolf give up all pretense and demonstrate clear wolf behaviors even when in human form. With stories like the TV series "Being Human" the werewolf ignores all wolf behaviors until the night of the full moon where he magically has access to those instincts. What do you think?

I hope to start a new line of conversation on this and will post more as it comes to mind. Let's just say while I read my homework and do my studies this has been going on in the back of mind and I want to share because as a writer, coming from this perspective would be a fun new insight into story telling exactly what is like to be a werewolf.

[ABrownrigg]

I love this conversation.


The lead characters in freeborn are werewolves, some have been that for a short time, some have been that for a long time. And in one body, there are two different sets of instincts at work. The human instincts, and the wolf instincts. The marrying of the two can have different consequences depending on the individuals involved. And that marrying of instincts takes time.

Upon transformation, the more primal wolf instincts are at the forefront.. Not the instinct to kill for the sake of killing, but the instinct to do whatever an animal might do.. i.e. if something runs, you tend to chase it.. if you're hungry, you tend to want to hunt without much thought as to moral implications. A werewolf doesnt eat people because they're evil (at first).. they're just hungry. NOW, the person inside?? Their instincts are the constant attempt to keep that nature in check. much like human kind does on a daily basis. Morals keep us in check, we all have em in some way shape or form, some stronger than others, and those keep us from acting like the animals we know we are. But for those that have low morals, or enjoy causing others pain (pumping their comfort in power).. the werewolf will become a damned scary horror bloodfest.

Despite our intelligence, and our sophistication.. ultimately almost everything we do, invent, or dream up deals with the basic instincts.. food, sex, comfort. Sometimes comfort comes in the pursuit of power, money that kind of thing. sometimes it comes in the form a well needed nights sleep. It varies.

So, take any particular human, and their own moral code will be at a tiny little war with their instincts. Depending on how long that person has had to live with the wolf inside them, will change how that werewolf acts when he or she is not transformed AND when he or she is.

IN FREEBORN

Young werewolves in this movie tend to lose themselves to the basic instincts upon transformation, and be more inclined to fall victim to impulsive reactions. It's new, it takes a lot of adjustment and the two sets of instincts havent merged yet. So the human tends to be human avoiding the wolfish feelings, and the wolf tends to be more wolfish, avoiding the human moral code.

Where as older werewolves have managed to cope better, and their own behaviors in a human world might be more designed to 'blend in'. OR if you're an asshole, to scare the crap out of folks and look at them as lower life forms and delve into the carnage that true power brings. The script has both in it.

But the instincts of both are eerily simliar.. it really comes down to the human sociology factor to me. Being a werewolf for some might mean the absolute freedom from that 'moral code' that we cling to so tightly so they tend to release more of that in their day to day lives when in human form.

NOW, for the audience reaction.

having someone in human form walking around sniffing things like an animal will get groans from the audience in my opinion. They dont need to sniff like an animal, they already have a keen sense of smell. Sure they smell things, but like a human would, just more often. They dont refer to themselves as a pack, alpha, or any of those things. Those are human terms given to try to explain wolf behaviors, and social structure. To the wolves, it just is, no need to name it.. so in the script they dont even use the term should we let her become a werewolf like us.. They just use the term.. "do we let her in?"

It also avoids the overly melodramatic.. "Our pack has survived across millenium, the scorge of the beast inside us drives the blood, and upon our own destinies lies the river of bodies cursed by our own natures" ..

Sure SOME werewolves in freeborn might write that as . poetry.. but probably get nudged by other werewolfs with an 'oh please spare me" look.

It could easily border on the melodramatic to start pumping dialogue into the script that talks about alphas, or the pack, or those types of things.. we're dealing with the concept that werewolves are REAL. WE as humans use that stuff for entertainment or art.. not as common day to day dialogue. At least I dont.. (rubs chin) maybe some out there talk like that, noshure.

But im interested to hear more. Please continue.

[Grayheart]

Currently I am working on my Masters in Special Education with a focus on Positive Behavioral Supports which means when I complete my schooling I will become a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst, i.e. a Behavioral Scientist.

I'm not familiar with the american educational system, but what is exactly the aim of this subject? What are you supposed to do afterwards with your knowledge about human behavior? And what are the overall contents of this? (Maybe you can post a link to your university?)

As for your studies on wolf and dog behavior and the domestication process you might want to delve into the studies of Dmitry Konstantinovich Belyaev, a russian scientist who studied the mechanisms of the domesticational process in silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes). I haven't had the time to dig myself into this, but what I've read so far sounded very promising - also in the direction of human behavior concerning our overall sociability.

If you want to read something more philosophical on the matter of human-animal relationships you should have a look at the writings of Mark Rowlands, who wrote 'The Philosopher and the Wolf'. Although I'm feeling somewhat uneasy about his ramblings concerning the differences between simian and lupine social behavior I think he got a lot of things right - there are differences in this two species and these are the result of evolutionary contingent processes.

One of the key studies I read talked a great deal about the domestication process of dogs from wolves. How mankind has breed a species that is totally co-dependent on them (i.e. man's best friend) and the clearest indicator was an illustration where a wolf was given a piece of meat in a cage and allowed to problem solve to get at the meat. This was a wolf who had been raised around humans and had its caregiver there in the room. The wolf tried with all its might to get at the meat but eventually became frustrated and gave up after demonstrated some aggressive behaviors. The same test was set up for a dog and the dog went through the similar steps of trying to get to the meat but then when it was unable to get at the meat on its own the dog did the extraordinary thing which was look to its human handler to get to the meat for the dog. This was demonstrated again when a dog could be trained to look to where a human was pointing to get its reward. No other animal besides humans has this trait from what I have read thus far.

I'm not sure if there are already studies about this but every cat I've known so far can also do this trick - and great apes do this constantly when confronted with human conspecifics (here the works of Michael Tomasello und Richard Byrne are highly recommendable). Its a very adaptable behavior which makes a lot of evolutionary sense in a social species. The above already mentioned Mark Rowlands coined for this the so called 'Barking Dog Principle':

„If it is neccessary for an organism to be able to perform a given adaptive task T, then it is selectively disadvantageous for that organism to develop internal mechanisms sufficient for the performance of T when it is possible for the organism to perform T by way of combination of internal mechanisms and manipulation of the external environment.“
– Mark Rowlands: Externalism: Putting Mind and World Back Together Again

Stated in another way: Why spending a lot of own energy if my helpful tin-opener can do the job for me?

In my view the behavior of a werewolf would crucially depend on how this species is handled in a given story. If the story opts for the magical-curse werwolf thing there would be no problem in having a person with two souls in one chest - but if the story opts for an bio-logical werewolf then there should be good reasons and explainable mechanisms why the werewolf in question has i. e. the irresistible urge to follow his hunting instinct when confronted with a running rabbit. I mean, looking at the werewolf's perfect mimicry ability it wouldn't be very adaptive for him to follow this instinct in human form and giving instantly away his disguise. It would also make a big difference for the behavior of a given werewolf whether he/she has been born this way and thus being the member of a stand-alone species (maybe human or lupine sub-species) or if the person is infected (the viral-werewolf option). There are endless factors to think about ...

[werewolf-woman]

i really enjoy werewolves but i also really like natural real wolves.
i find the complex communication and social structure of pack wolves to be very fascinating.

there seems to be many misconceptions about wolves that proliferate popular culture and unfortunately many werewolf movies, fans and wannabees only reiterate the misconceptions.

I often feel frustrated when i hear people say they are werewolves and then proceed to list off the behavior they attribute to wolves, for example growling and yipping. The werewolf wannabe will often claim to exhibit what the believe to be wolf like behavior, more of than not the behaviors they sight are just common oversimplifications and misconception on wolf behavior.

Wolves are highly social family "pack" oriented animals. with a complex social hierarchy. Wolves co-rear young and demonstrate a collectivist behavior.
wolves howl and growl to express emotions and communicate with one another.

werewolf behavior stereotypes often include making animalistic sounds while in human form. I take issue with this belief because as humans we have language to communicate emotions. even if you thought yourself a werewolf, there would be no need to growl or yip in human form because theoretically you are human at least part of the time.
The reasons wolves growl and howl is because that is their mode of communication. It seems like people cling to stereotypes and misconceptions of wolf behavior to claim to be a werewolf.

If a wolf was a human, they would be considered incredibly articulate and very family oriented. It does a disservice to the real nature of wolves to claim to be one. if you make animalistic noises because you think your a werewolf then i think this may allude to some possible mental disorders or you lead a rich fantasy life. But i assume you do these behaviors because you are a fan of wolves, but you truly do wolves a disservice by breaking down a rather complex animal communication style for the sake of fantasy. You only further the misconceptions about wolves by portraying them as mindless, growling, biting brutes.

if you really think you are a wolf and demonstrate wolf behaviors in human form then theoretically you would demonstrate actual wolf behavior like:
territory marking, do you run around the perimeter of your house and pee or scratch mark?
Breeding privileges are often reserved for the higher ranking pack members so if you think your a wolf, are you able to date or have children. If a low ranking member of the pack breaks the breeding structure and has a litter, then the higher ranking female can take the young as her own and rear then or she may even kill them. Would you do this kind of behavior if you think yourself a wolf?
if your family is your pack and say you view your father as the alpha would you kill your parent to usurp him? because power struggles do happen in packs and death is often the outcome.
the above listed are just a few behaviors wolves have and if you claim to demonstrate wolf behaviors in human form, then you would do more than just howling or growling.
the whole barking and growling thing is shown in many werewolf movies but those are oversimplifications and dramatizations of what some screen writers thinks wolves would do.
sorry for the rant this is just a part of werewolf fandom i take issue with because i really do like wolves and see them as a complex and fascinating animal. I really hated that movie blood and chocolate, it seems this movie is one of the big influences on this type of werewolf behavior.

[ABrownrigg]

Yes.. they're doing a 'wolf in human form' rather than a werewolf.

Just because someone gets a 'bioLOGICAL" virus doesnt take away their years of human upbringing and social structure. Sure they might think about scratching the door.. but eh.. its a side thought.. or something that now has to be filtered through the human's intellect.

So yeah, no one's running and jumping off the walls in this one.. no one's standing around growling in anger when they can easily say F-you. if they're in werewolf form.. communication kind of changes, and wolf instincts become stronger. But its not just a blatant.. I wanna go kill cuz im a wolf now.

I take the whole 'wild beast' element this way. If someone turns into a wolf, that process is painful, traumatic, and very very frustrating. When its all over.. you've got someone that has strong instincts.. that has just been beaten up with a transformation stick.. you'd be angry too.. also hungry... also tired..

least in my opinion.. our plan in the budget is to take the final cast for three days to 'wolf park' and let them actually get some wolf experience. not so they can act like wolves.. so they can realize wolves a lot more complex than folks give them credit for. AND of course to help them tap that animal side.

AB

[werewolf-woman]

Yes.. they're doing a 'wolf in human form' rather than a werewolf.

Just because someone gets a 'bioLOGICAL" virus doesnt take away their years of human upbringing and social structure. Sure they might think about scratching the door.. but eh.. its a side thought.. or something that now has to be filtered through the human's intellect.

So yeah, no one's running and jumping off the walls in this one.. no one's standing around growling in anger when they can easily say F-you. if they're in werewolf form.. communication kind of changes, and wolf instincts become stronger. But its not just a blatant.. I wanna go kill cuz im a wolf now.

I take the whole 'wild beast' element this way. If someone turns into a wolf, that process is painful, traumatic, and very very frustrating. When its all over.. you've got someone that has strong instincts.. that has just been beaten up with a transformation stick.. you'd be angry too.. also hungry... also tired..

least in my opinion.. our plan in the budget is to take the final cast for three days to 'wolf park' and let them actually get some wolf experience. not so they can act like wolves.. so they can realize wolves a lot more complex than folks give them credit for. AND of course to help them tap that animal side.

AB

thank you, thank you... I gotta say hearing about your ideas and take on werewolves, i am the most excited about this this movie than i have been about a werewolf movie in a long time. you were right a few more awesome conversations like this and i just might be praying to your altar after all

[ABrownrigg]

hmmm.. my altar.. ooo. yeah, right.. I've got one of those, but my PS3 is on it right now, and I spilled grape juice all down the side of it too, so it's kinneh lame.

I'll settle for more insights.

AB

[werewolf-woman]

my husband would agree that a ps3 and xbox360 deserves an altar...

[Scott Gardener]

Hard for me to be wordy on a mobile phone at work, but I cannot not ramble intellectual musings on this one. Fortunately, some points I would have made have already been covered. Just reading through is a reminder how much The Pack has matured over the years, and how much better our visions of werewolves have become.

I personally do picture werewolves in human form having quirks. They won't do anything blatent like sniffing behind peoples' ears. Rather, there may be some subtle body language elements that are just slightly "off" in a way that is hard to pinpoint. Seasoned werewolves make very convincing humans, because their enhanced senses generally
help them read people. One might even seem 3psychic, being able to feel out hidden moods and secondary agenda. Normal humans should not play poker against seasoned werewolves.

New converts, flooded with confusing new sensations and perceptual quirks, like right-brained visual thinking or sensory synesthesia (hearing colors or seeing smells--not literally so much as in intuitive impressions) would play havoc until one got used to the rewiring of the brain.
T

Again, don't expect stereotypicaal movie

[Scott Gardener]

Apologies, but the bottom of the paragraph fell out of view and I could not get it back. In the coming years, we may need to make the site iOS/Android tolerant. Anyway...

Again, don't expect even newly converted werewolves to act like they do in most movies. The quirks I envision are very individualistic but generally not specifically wolf-like so much as merely off-kilter, Aspergers-like, or maybe kind of feral. Just say you're an artist or left-handed, and most people won't give it much thought.

[ABrownrigg]

I personally do picture werewolves in human form having quirks. They won't do anything blatent like sniffing behind peoples' ears. Rather, there may be some subtle body language elements that are just slightly "off" in a way that is hard to pinpoint. Seasoned werewolves make very convincing humans, because their enhanced senses generally
help them read people. One might even seem 3psychic, being able to feel out hidden moods and secondary agenda. Normal humans should not play poker against seasoned werewolves.

Well put.

[Figarou]

You can't have behavior without "development," "intelligence, " "background," and "surroundings."

Behavior depends on what he /she goes through in life. Take 2 lion cubs for example. Have one that's been well taken care of by humans. He has never been hit for any reason. He's been well fed. Kept clean. Never kept in a small cage. You're always there by him. You play fun games. (Like chasing a ball.) Everything good. No bad. What will his "behavior" towards humans will be like when he becomes an adult? Do the opposite with the other cub. What will his "behavior" be like?

Then you have "surroundings." "Life styles of the rich and famous." Vs the bronx/ getto. I see 2 different behaviors there.

"Intelligence" Humans are on top. If a werewolf has that. Then his "behavior" will be different compared to one that doesn't.

[Kigai Holt]

You can't have behavior without "development," "intelligence, " "background," and "surroundings."

A good lot of animal behavior is instinctually based though, such as caching, scent marking, & a lot of communication.

[Figarou]

You can't have behavior without "development," "intelligence, " "background," and "surroundings."

A good lot of animal behavior is instinctually based though, such as caching, scent marking, & a lot of communication.

Place that animal in different surroundings. Will it still work?

Instincts are built in. Yes. But its based from the surroundings. Place an animal that's naturaly found in a wooded area in the desert or south pole. Will instinct help it survive?

[FoxKnight]

I would direct to Figarou to Fatal Attractions, the Animal Planet show about captive animals taken very well care of that still ended up killing people, but then again I remember that it was the owners' fault in a few of the episodes. Regardless, a few of the animals had really good lives and they killed when they were adults, so I wouldn't exactly agree with your post. At least with the metaphor

Nor do I understand the "rich and famous" and "ghetto" lifestyles. The rich and famous and people living in the ghetto are as varied as middle class people. There are rich and famous people who are philanthropists, generous, down to earth, some who willing take up a life as a hobo (as I've seen on Taboo), Bayou Billionaires (another show), etc. More than just the spoiled rich kids, the greedy rich, and the obnoxious upper class. As for people of the ghetto, there are the obvious thieves and criminals, but there are also the hard workers, the old story tellers, those with integrity, the common man, those dedicated to the community, etc.

I'm not saying that backgrounds and surroundings are unreliable predictors of behaviors, but they are just some of the many factors that make up behavior. You also have to take into account one of the biggest factors of behavior, "Personality." It's personality that makes creatures do things, how often to do them, how much enjoying doing things, and who they do like to be around. Maybe they have a tendency towards a particular berry/food? Or want to mate with a certain other?

As for Figarou's last post, yes, instinct alone cannot make an animal survive. Of that I completely agree. Having read the National Geographic article "Animal Minds," it does not surprise me that animals are not instinctual machines that just live to reproduce. They all have their own personalities

[Figarou]

Yes, I know about captive animals attacking people. Was it instinct or behavior?

Personality can also be developed. Just so you know.

[FoxKnight]

I don't think anyone could know what exactly a wild animal's motives are, so I'm not even going to try to choose one of those options

Possibly, but I do not really believe that people change drastically (neither physically nor mentally), unless it were some sort of life changing near death moment or something, so animals changing is an equal stretch to me

[Figarou]

I don't think anyone could know what exactly a wild animal's motives are, so I'm not even going to try to choose one of those options

You proved my point. We don't know. That animal could have been provoked and decided to do something about it.

Look at this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2 ... ata_player

Tell me what you think about that behavior.

[FoxKnight]

As old as that video was and having the perfect Aerosmith song to go with that, it's still just one of many stories. This happy ending, in my opinion, had to do with God. The lion was allowed to play on the Chruch land and from the looks of it, the people must have gone to the Church, and the lion was even named Christian, so I'm sensing that the Lord was watching over all of them, including the lions

[Berserker]

Possibly, but I do not really believe that people change drastically (neither physically nor mentally),

Clearly you've never met a Buddhist convert.

Tell me what you think about that behavior.

It's like that one guy who befriended the huge crocodile. Lions are a rarity in the feline world because they are pack animals; and thus, like with wolves, it's not too hard for a wild lion to develop a bond with a human being in captivity. Most highly social animals share common behavioral traits that make it easier for them to get along with humans. Genetics are the final determining factor.

I would direct to Figarou to Fatal Attractions, the Animal Planet show about captive animals taken very well care of that still ended up killing people

Notice that most of the animals featured on Fatal Attractions are not social species. They showed leopards, pit vipers, tigers, monitor lizards, etc. Of course there was the chimpanzee, and I think there was a hyena at one point. I'm not saying that exotic animals make great pets, but that some species, when treated with appropriate attention to their behavioral traits and instincts, are potentially less dangerous than others, due to their social nature. If that were not the case, then dogs and cats would not exist, because humans would not have been able to domesticate their ancestors.

[Figarou]

It's like that one guy who befriended the huge crocodile. Lions are a rarity in the feline world because they are pack animals; and thus, like with wolves, it's not too hard for a wild lion to develop a bond with a human being in captivity. Most highly social animals share common behavioral traits that make it easier for them to get along with humans. Genetics are the final determining factor.

Oh...I hope so. I'll be so suprised if someone mentions "magic."

[outwarddoodles]

Wish I had the time to muse in-length about how I perceive hypothetical werewolf behavior, but today I'm going to keep it short and sweet. (Though I'm definitely keeping tabs on this conversation.)

Here's the most concise way I could summarize my thoughts:

I personally like to imagine werewolves as being intelligent beasts. To me, they would be powered by strong instinctual compulsions, while their intellectual consciousness would serve the purpose of enhancing their success at achieving instinctual goals.

But, this philosophy of mine is largely based on my "ideal werewolf" rather than any in depth behavioral analysis. This is what I imagine when I draw my wolfers, and are thus the idea I try to portray in my art whenever I can. "Instinctual" may carry connotations of being mindless brutes to many, but to me, 'instinctual' represents a state of being that I probably fantasize about only as a means to escape the cerebral confines of humanity.

[ladygrail]

"I'm not familiar with the american educational system, but what is exactly the aim of this subject? What are you supposed to do afterwards with your knowledge about human behavior? And what are the overall contents of this? (Maybe you can post a link to your university?)" from Grey Wolf I think

Here is the link to my program:
http://extended.nau.edu/programs/degree ... egreeID=97

What being a BCBA will allow me to do is work in the Behavioral Health field mostly with children, mostly those who are experiencing autism learn skills and behaviors that allow them to cope and become part of the mainstream population. This is done using various techniques all that are positive reinforcement based. An example that many people will know is with Skinner who taught a pigeon how to various tricks through positive food reinforcement and how this is used with Pavlov with the dog and bell experiment. PBS goes far beyond these small specialized research parameters. Since this is my day job, my work will be to come into a situation usually at school or home, but could be anywhere and in any program, and have a target client who I will work with. My goal is to create a strength based program that is both individualized and follows best practices in the field to help support and teach the client the new behaviors that we wish to see to help assist that individual in having a full and rewarding life to the best of their ability.
In my field I have run into so many people who only focus on negative behaviors of children with special needs and look only to institutionalize them due to how violent the behaviors are. I also have been faced with people who do not have a clear understanding of what these individuals are actually capable of and how much they have to offer. I believe everyone can lead a purposeful life and a fulfilling life that can be done without punishment, coercion or abuse.
The positive behavioral approach is under the blanket of both special education and psychology and is one of the harder 'soft' sciences, because it is data driven. We take a baseline data of the behaviors being displayed, collected antecedent data (what happened before), the actual behavior as it happens (frequency and intensity) and then the consequences after the behavior has occurred (reinforcing events). From this then we create an individualized treatment plan based on numerous assessments and tests, interveiws with parents, caregivers, client, teachers, service providers, family, etc. Until we have a plan. The intervention starts and we follow several patterns to test the data and the intervention. The most common is ABAB where you take the baseline (A) start the intervention (B) remove the intervention (A) and then replace the intervention (B). Granted this is a very simplified explanation and there is a ton of information out there. Hope that helps! I am curious how these program might work in other countries as well. Thanks for the insight.

[ladygrail]

From what I have been reading with this thread we seem to be sneaking into the nurture vs. nature argument. Instincts are a powerful thing that exist in all of us. I have been reading Paul Ekman's book on human emotion and the behaviors that exhibit and communicate this to our fellow humans. We communicate a great deal with body language, as do wolves. I figure it is the same for werewolves. In this there are certain ingrained behaviors that we exhibit without even actively thinking about them such as fear reaction or a startled reaction. Sure over time one can learn to school their face, words, and body movements to hide these reactions but underneath it all in the microexpressions the emotions still out on the instictual level. With natural wolves who do not have the ability to use human language it becomes even more important for them to focus on body language, sounds such as howling, growling, yip, whines, etc. but also on how they read the face of their pack mates and others.
Back to the nurture vs. Nature, when a wolf dog is raised with people, they learn another set of cues because they learn to read us (this was explained to me by friend Timber who runs one of the rescue programs) just as they learn to read their pack. Humans don't have tails or ears to communicate like wolves but according to the caregiver of the program, the wolves and the wolf dogs can learn to read us all the same.

Now with werewolves, how does the nurture vs. nature arguement affect them? In some books and movies, even after transforming the werewolf can use human language and understand it. Other stories they cannot and take on more animal communication behaviors. There is also a question of whether or not the ww was raised by a pack or cursed and turned into a ww thus needed to relearn verbal cues and communication.
There are so many factors to consider and I'd love to hear more thoughts.

[Grayheart]

"I'm not familiar with the american educational system, but what is exactly the aim of this subject? What are you supposed to do afterwards with your knowledge about human behavior? And what are the overall contents of this? (Maybe you can post a link to your university?)"

from Grey Wolf I think

It's Grayheart But nevermind - there are a lot of Greys and Grays and the like around, so its natural they become mixed up in a blurred mist

Here is the link to my program:
http://extended.nau.edu/programs/degree ... egreeID=97

My goal is to create a strength based program that is both individualized and follows best practices in the field to help support and teach the client the new behaviors that we wish to see to help assist that individual in having a full and rewarding life to the best of their ability.
In my field I have run into so many people who only focus on negative behaviors of children with special needs and look only to institutionalize them due to how violent the behaviors are. I also have been faced with people who do not have a clear understanding of what these individuals are actually capable of and how much they have to offer. I believe everyone can lead a purposeful life and a fulfilling life that can be done without punishment, coercion or abuse. (...) Thanks for the insight.

First of all thank YOU for your detailed and soothing answer and the link - Because whenever I hear someone talking about behavior and reinforcement in connection with education I'm feeling uneasy and very much alarmed. Maybe that's due to being raised in germany - always vigilant when something pops up that could be in the slightest sense a means to control others behavior in a non-humanistic way. So, I'm positively surprised and deeply impressed by your goals you've set for your life and study

From what I have been reading with this thread we seem to be sneaking into the nurture vs. nature argument.

I have to agree with this: As soon as someone starts a discussion like that it always comes to the old debate about nature vs. nurture - and depending on the current 'Zeitgeist' the answers tended more or less in one direction or the other. I'm having the impression that currently there's more and more appreciation of the 'inborn' features of human behavior - especially with the advent of modern genetics and neuroscience.

Personally I have to agree with scientists like Antonio Damasio* and Henry Plotkin** who say that there is no inherent dichotomy between the two poles - especially when it is framed as the nature vs. culture debate - because culture is as natural as everything else. I'm not saying that culture hasn't the potential to be dangerous and destructive - I'm just saying that it is part of nature and an evolutionary product as every other adaptation in existence - And it is my firm opinion that culture studies are part of biology, as it is also my firm opinion that they are nonetheless a non-reducable field of biology, standing in its own right with its own methodologies and culture being an evolutionary force of its own that has to be seriously taken into account when one deals with a cultural species as our own. Reductionists like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett make me weary beyond compare - people like them suffer from a kind of 'No-Sense-Syndrome' that is potentially dangerous and hope-smashing for anyone who wants to make the world a better place.

*Neuroscientist, Books: Descartes Error - Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain; Self comes to mind - Constructing the Conscious Brain
**Psychologist, Books: Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge; Nescessary Knowledge

But back to topic:

I personally think that the behavior of a given werewolf would depend on three factors: The phylogenetic history of its species, the cultural history of its population - and its personal ontogeny sandwhiched between the former two. In the end its really all about evolutionary processes operating and cross-affecting each other at quite different levels (Species/Genes; Individual/Brain; Culture/History) but with the same underlying mechanical structure (Generate-Test-Reproduce).

So, if we imagine the werewolf as part of our every world all three of the named factors would apply to them. One would have to ask how the species evolved in the first place, how was the ecological relationship with other species (especially wolves and humans), how does their biology work - and last but not least: How did werewolves as cultural individuals cope with being a shapeshifting creature? What stories did they tell about themselves and others? What myths drove them, what dangers did they have to face? How did they survive and how do they cope with the modern era? What sense do they make of there own being there?

These are all questions that have been already talked at considerably length in this community and these very discussions have, as we all know, influenced the script for Freeborn and will make this a movie that people will enjoy to watch. Why? - Because the story does what stories were evolutionary invented for in the first place: To explore possible answers to the questions what it means to be human (well, also werewolf in this particular case) - or better: What it means to be alive and being conscious about this very fact - to find a sense we can live by.

(Ah and on a side note: Wouldn't this topic be better suited for the 'What should a werewolf be?' section?)