biology

Raymond Coppinger

Raymond Coppinger is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Raymond Coppinger rather than just read about it. In short: Raymond Coppinger (8 February 1937 – August 14, 2017) was a professor of cognitive science and biology at Hampshire College. He was an expert in dog behavior and the origin of the domestic dog.

Key takeaways

Raymond Coppinger belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Raymond Coppinger to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Raymond Coppinger from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Raymond Coppinger (8 February 1937 – August 14, 2017) was a professor of cognitive science and biology at Hampshire College. He was an expert in dog behavior and the origin of the domestic dog.

Education He majored in literature and philosophy at Boston University. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts in biology. His thesis was on "the effect of experience and novelty on avian feeding behavior."

Career He was one of the first faculty members at Hampshire College when it was founded in 1969. He published more than 60 scientific articles, and appeared in many documentaries including for the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and PBS. His wife Lorna Coppinger was a frequent collaborator on research and writing. In their book "What Is a Dog?," they argue that vast majority of street dogs are not strays or lost pets, but rather well-adapted scavengers, similar to the dogs that first emerged thousands of years ago.

Livestock Dog Project The Coppingers compiled data for ten years from over 1,400 Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) to research their use on American ranches to combat coyotes. Their work is still the single largest, long term study of LGDs. He and his wife helped develop and popularize the Anatolian Shepherd breed in the United States.

Foxes His research on foxes has challenged views about domestication syndrome with foxes, suggesting that the traits associated with the syndrome occurred in the fox population prior to their domestication.

Death Coppinger died at the age of 80, from cancer. He is survived by his wife, Lorna.

Books Coppinger, Raymond; Coppinger, Lorna (2016). What Is a Dog?. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226478227. Coppinger, Raymond; Feinstein, Mark (2015). How Dogs Work. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226128139. Coppinger, Raymond (2014). Fishing Dogs: A Guide to the History, Talents, and Training of the Baildale, the Flounderhounder, the Angler Dog, and Sundry Other Breeds of Aquatic Dogs (Canis piscatorius). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781628739381. Coppinger, Raymond; Coppinger, Lorna (2001). Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution. Scribner. ISBN 9780684855301. Coppinger, Raymond (1978). Livestock guarding dogs for U.S. agriculture.

References

External links Raymond Coppinger at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Raymond Coppinger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Raymond Coppinger claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Raymond Coppinger before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Raymond Coppinger ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Raymond Coppinger

In research: Raymond Coppinger appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Raymond Coppinger in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Raymond Coppinger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1937 births, 2017 deaths, Animal cognition writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Raymond Coppinger outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Raymond Coppinger in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Raymond Coppinger means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Raymond Coppinger out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Raymond Coppinger in simple terms?

Raymond Coppinger (8 February 1937 – August 14, 2017) was a professor of cognitive science and biology at Hampshire College. He was an expert in dog behavior and the origin of the domestic dog.

Why does Raymond Coppinger matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Raymond Coppinger?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Raymond Coppinger.