Animal Psychology

a branch of psychology dealing with the inner behavior of animals, its outer manifestations, origin, and development with respect to ontogeny and phylogeny. An important objective of animal psychology is the study of the biological preconditions and prehistory of the human mind. Animal psychology is related to ecology, ethology, neurophysiology, the physiology of higher nervous activity and sensory organs, and other sciences. Research on animal psychology is very important not only for other branches of psychology, especially comparative psychology, but also for the theory of knowledge, anthropology (the biological prerequisites of anthropogenesis), and other sciences, as well as for livestock breeding, fur farming, and the training of dogs and circus animals.

As early as classical times philosophers were greatly interested in the mental capacity of animals. The rise of scientific animal psychology at the end of the 18th and early 19th century is attributed to the French scientists Buffon and Lamarck, and it was later developed by C. Darwin (Great Britain). At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, European and American animal psychology was dominated by either anthropomorphic idealism or vulgar materialism. Among those who contributed to the development of animal psychology were the French scientists J. Fabre, who studied insects, and J. Loeb (theory of tropisms), the Americans E. L. Thorndike (learning in animals) and R. Yerkes (psychology of anthropoid apes and mind development), the Dutchman F. J. Bujtendijk (instinct and learning), the Germans W. Kóhler (intelligence of anthropoid apes) and W. Fischel (learning, higher mental abilities in animals), the Austrian K. von Frisch (vision in insects), and the Swiss H. Hediger (innate behavior, behavioral change in animals in contact with man). In Russia the founders of the scientific study of animals’ mental activity were K. F. Rul’e and V. A. Vagner, who in the 19th century laid the foundation for the materialist evolutionary approach in animal psychology. This approach was further developed by the Soviet scientists N. N. Ladygina-Kots, V. M. Borovskii, D. N. Kashkarov, N. lu. Voitonis, G. Z. Roginskii, and other Soviet animal psychologists, primarily studying the behavior of primates in order to elucidate the biological pre-requisites of anthropogenesis and the origin and development of the human mind. Manipulation, the use of tools as the biological basis for the genesis of work, and learning, skills, and intelligence are studied particularly in anthropoid apes; herd instinct, specifically social behavior and imitation as prerequisites of the origin of man’s social life and language, are studied in monkeys.

The modern materialist conception of animal psychology proceeds from the idea of the dialectical unity of outer behavior and psychic activity and is based on a strictly objective analysis of animal activity, taking into account the ecological and physiological characteristics of the species studied.

REFERENCES

Vagner, V. A. Biologicheskie osnovaniia sravnitel’ noi psikhologii, vols. 1–2. St. Petersburg-Moscow, 1910–13.
Vagner, V. A. Vozniknovenie i razvitie psikhicheskikh sposobnostei, parts 1–9. Leningrad, 1924–29.
Severtsov, A. N. “Evoliutsiia i psikhika.” In Sobr. soch., vol. 3. Moscow-Leningrad, 1945.
Ladygina-Kots, N. N. Razvitie psikhiki v protsesse evoliutsii organizmov. Moscow, 1958.
Tinbergen, N. Povedenie zhivotnykh. Moscow, 1969. (Translated from English.)
Fabri, K. E. “V. A. Vagner i sovremennaia zoopsikhologiia,”Voprosy psikhologii, 1969, no. 6.

K. E. FABRI

animal psychology

an·i·mal psy·chol·o·gy

a branch of psychology concerned with the study of the behavior and physiologic responses of animal organisms as a means of understanding human behavior; some synonyms include comparative psychology, experimental psychology, and physiologic psychology.

psychology

(sī-kol′ŏ-jē) [ psych- + -logy] The science dealing with mental processes, both normal and abnormal, and their effects upon behavior. There are two main approaches to the study: introspective, i.e., engaging in self-examination of one's own mental processes; and objective, studying of the minds of others.

abnormal psychology

The study of deviant behavior and the associated mental phenomena.

analytic psychology

Psychoanalysis based on the concepts of Carl Jung, de-emphasizing sexual factors in motivation and emphasizing the “collective unconscious” and “psychological types” (introvert and extrovert).

animal psychology

The study of animal behavior.

applied psychology

The application of the principles of psychology to special fields (e.g., clinical, industrial, educational, nursing, or pastoral).

clinical psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with diagnosing and treating mental disorders.

cognitive psychology

The study of the processes of reasoning and decision making.

criminal psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with the behavior and therapy of those convicted of crimes.

depth psychology

The psychology of unconscious behavior, as opposed to the psychology of conscious behavior.

dynamic psychology

Psychology of motivation; that which seeks the causes of mental phenomena.

experimental psychology

The study of mental acts by tests and experiments.

genetic psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with the inheritance of psychological characteristics.

gestalt psychology

Psychology that emphasizes the importance of the wholeness of psychological processes and behavior, rather than their components.

individual psychology

A system of psychological thinking developed by Alfred Adler in which an individual is regarded as having three life goals: physical security, sexual satisfaction, and social integration.

physiological psychology

Psychology that deals with the structure and function of the nervous system and other bodily organs and their relationship to behavior.

social psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with the study of groups and their influence on the individual's actions and mental processes.

animal psychology

Animal Psychology

Animal Psychology

REFERENCES

animal psychology

an·i·mal psy·chol·o·gy

psychology

abnormal psychology

analytic psychology

animal psychology

applied psychology

clinical psychology

cognitive psychology

criminal psychology

depth psychology

dynamic psychology

experimental psychology

genetic psychology

gestalt psychology

individual psychology

physiological psychology

social psychology

animal psychology

Synonyms for animal psychology

noun the branch of psychology concerned with the behavior of animals

Synonyms

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