Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T08:16:48.766Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prospects for a cognitive ethology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Donald R. Griffin
Donald R. Griffin
Affiliation:
The Rockefeller University1230 York Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10021
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ethologists and comparative psychologists have found that the social behavior, discrimination learning, and especially the communicative behavior of many animals are sufficiently versatile to call into question the customary denial that animals have mental experiences comparable to our own. Many of their behavior patterns suggest that animals have mental images of objects, events, or relationships remote from the immediate stimulus situation, as well as self-awareness and intentions concerning future actions. Our behavioristic Zeitgeist has inhibited investigation of such possibilities, but reopening these long-neglected questions requires no departure from the materialistic approach to biological and behavioral science. The basic question at issue involves a comparison of those aspects of human and nonhuman brain function that sometimes lead to what we call mental experiences, at least in our own species. It seems more feasible to devise objectively verifiable tests for the existence of these general categories of mental experiences than for that of many others. While many other kinds of evidence could well be used (with appropriate caution and all possible controls) to weigh the likelihood that animals sometimes know what they are doing, the experimental use of communicative behavior seems especially promising, because the latter could serve a function analogous to human language, which provides our best evidence about the mental experiences of our fellow men.

Keywords

animal thinkingawarenessbehaviorismcognitive ethologycommunicative behaviorconsciousnessintentionsinternal representationsmental imagespsychoneural relationshipsself-awareness
Type
Target Articles
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 1 , Issue 4: A Special Issue on Cognition and Consiousness in Nonhuman Species , December 1978 , pp. 527 - 538
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bennett, J.Rationality, Essay towards an Analysis. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964.Google Scholar
Bourne, G. N., ed. Progress in Ape Research. New York, Academic Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Brown, J. W. Consciousness and the pathology of language. In The Neuropsychology of Language, Essays in Honor of Eric Lenneberg, Rieber, R. W., ed. New York, Plenum, 1976.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. T., and Blake, R.Animal awareness? American Scientist 65:146–147, 1977.Google Scholar
Dimond, S. J., and Blizard, D. A., eds. Evolution and lateralization of the brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 299:1–501, 1977.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, P., and Pap, A., eds. A Modern Introduction to Philosophy, 3rd ed.New York, Macmillan, 1973.Google Scholar
Fouts, R. S., and Rigby, R. L. Man-chimpanzee communication. In How Animals Communicate, Sebeok, T. A., ed. Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Frisch, K. von. The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees, Chadwick, L., trans. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1967.Google Scholar
Galaburda, A. M., Le May, M., Kemper, T. L., and Geschwind, N.Right-left asymmetries in the brain. Science 199:852–856, 1978.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallup, G. G. Jr. Towards an operational definition of self-awareness. In Socio-ecology and Psychology of Primates, Tuttle, R., ed. The Hague, Mouton, 1975.Google Scholar
Gallup, G. G. Jr.Self-recognition in primates. A comparative approach to the bidirectional properties of consciousness. American Psychologist 32:329–338, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galusha, J. G., and Stout, J. F.Aggressive communication by Larus glaucescens Part IV: experiments on visual communication. Behaviour 62:222–235, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, B. T., and Gardner, R. A.Evidence for sentence constituents in the early utterances of child and chimpanzee. Journal of Experimental Psychology 104:244–267, 1975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Globus, G. G., Maxwell, G., and Savodnick, I.Consciousness and the Brain. New York, Plenum, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodall, J. van Lawick. In the Shadow of Man. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1971.Google Scholar
Goodall, J. van Lawick. The Behaviour of the Chimpanzee. In Hominisation und Verhalten, Kurth, G. and Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I., eds. Stuttgart, Gustav Fischer, 1975.Google Scholar
Griffin, D. R.Listening in the Dark. New Haven, Yale Univ. Press (reprinted 1974, Dover Publications, New York), 1958.Google Scholar
Griffin, D. R.The Question of Animal Awareness: Evolutionary Continuity of Mental Experience. New York, The Rockefeller Univ. Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Griffin, D. R.Anthropomorphism. Bio Science 27:445–446, 1977a.Google Scholar
Griffin, D. R. Expanding horizons in animal communication behavior. In How Animals Communicate, Sebeok, T. A., ed. Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 1977b.Google Scholar
Harnad, S. R., Steklis, H. D., and Lancaster, J., eds. Origins and evolution of language and speech. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 280:1–914, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J., Loveland, D. H., and Cable, C.Natural concepts in pigeons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 2:285–302, 1976.Google Scholar
Hölldobler, B. Communication in social hymenoptera. In How Animals Communicate, Sebeok, T. A., ed. Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Humphrey, N. K.Review of The Question of Animal Awareness. Animal Behaviour 25:521–522, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenssen, T. A.Female response to filmed displays of Anoblis nebulosus (Sauria, Iguanidae). Animal Behaviour 18: 640–647, 1970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenny, A. J. P., Longuet-Higgins, H. C., Lucas, J. R., and Waddington, C. H.The Development of Mind. Edinburgh, Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1973.Google Scholar
Kenny, A. J. P., The Nature of Mind. Edinburgh, Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1972.Google Scholar
Krebs, J.Review of The Question of Animal Awareness. Nature 266:792, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lashley, K. S.The behavioristic interpretation of consciousness. Psychological Review 30:237–272 and 329–353, 1923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindauer, M.Schwarmbienen auf Wohnungssuch. Zeitschrift für vergleichenden Physiologie 35:263–324, 1955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindauer, M.Communication among Social Bees, rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, B. D.Behaviourism and the Limits of Scientific Method. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977.Google Scholar
Marler, P., and Tenaza, R. Signaling behavior in apes with special reference to vocalization. In How Animals Communicate, Sebeok, T. A., ed. Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press. 1977.Google Scholar
Mason, W. A.Review of The Question of Animal Awareness. Science 194:930–931, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medin, D. L., Roberts, W. A., and Davis, R. T., eds. Processes of Animal Memory. New York, Wiley, 1976.Google Scholar
Menzel, E. W., and Halperin, S.Purposive behavior as a basis for objective communication between chimpanzees. Science 189:652–654, 1975.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Menzel, E. W., and Johnson, M. K.Communication and cognitive organization in humans and other animals. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 280:131–142, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neville, H. J. The functional significance of cerebral specialization. In The Neuropsychology of Language, Essays in Honor of Eric Lenneberg, Rieber, R. W., ed. New York, Plenum, 1976.Google Scholar
Nicholas, J. M., ed. Images, Perception, and Knowledge. Dordrecht, Holland, Reidel, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nottebohm, F. Neural asymmetries in the vocal control of the canary. In Lateralization in the Nervous System, Harnad, S. R. and Doty, R. W., eds. New York, Academic Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Payne, R. S., and McVay, S.Songs of the humpback whales. Science 173:587–597, 1971.Google ScholarPubMed
Popper, K. R., and Eccles, J. C.The Self and Its Brain. New York, Springer, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Premack, D.Intelligence in Ape and Man. Hillsdale, N.J., Erlbaum, 1976.Google Scholar
Riopelle, A. J., ed. Animal Problem Solving. Hammondsworth, England. Penguin Books, 1967.Google Scholar
Rumbaugh, D. M., ed. Language Learning by a Chimpanzee. New York, Academic Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Ryle, G.The Concept of Mind. London, Hutchinson, 1949.Google Scholar
Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S., Wilkerson, B. J., and Bakeman, R. Spontaneous gestural communication among conspecifics in the pigmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus). In Progress in Ape Research, Bourne, G. H., ed. New York, Academic Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S., Rumbaugh, D. M., and Boysen, B.Symbolic communication between two chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Science 201:641–644, 1978.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaffer, J. A. Philosophy of mind. Encyclopedia Brittanica Macropedia, vol. 12, pp. 224–233. Chicago, Encyclopedia Brittanica, Inc., 1975.Google Scholar
Schultz, D.A History of Modern Psychology, 2nd ed.New York, Academic Press, 1975.Google Scholar
Searle, J. R.Speech Acts, an Essay in the Philosophy of Language. London, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1969.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sebeok, T. A., ed. How Animals Communicate. Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Seeley, T.Measurement of nest cavity volume by the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 2:201–227, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, S. J., ed. Imagery, Current Cognitive Approaches. New York, Academic Press, 1971.Google Scholar
Sheehan, P. W., ed. The Function and Nature of Imagery. New York, Academic Press, 1972.Google Scholar
Shepard, R. N.The mental image. American Psychologist 33:125–137, 1978.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skinner, B. F.Verbal Behavior. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skinner, B. F.About Behaviorism. New York, Random House, 1974.Google Scholar
Smith, W. J.The Behavior of Communicating. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1977.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, J. G.The Behavioral Basis of Perception. New Haven, Yale Univ. Press, 1962.Google Scholar
Thatcher, R. W., and John, E. R.Foundations of Cognitive Processes. Hillsdale, N. J., Erlbaum, 1977.Google Scholar
Thorpe, W. H.Learning and Instinct in Animals, 2nd ed.Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1963.Google Scholar
Whiteley, C. H.Mind in Action, an Essay in Philosophical Psychology. London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1973.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O.The Insect Societies. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 1971.Google Scholar