Cognitive ethology

As cognitive ethology , the comparative, is evolutionary and ecological exploring the spirit of non-human animals, their thought processes , intentions and opinions , their reason and cognition and their consciousness called, that is the application of theories and methods of cognitive science in the field of behavioral research . In contrast to “classical” ethology , cognitive ethologists also consider mental states and abilities when describing and trying to explain animal behavior .

The name goes back to the 1978 published article Prospects for a Cognitive Ethology by Donald R. Griffin , in which he literally criticized "our behavioristic Zeitgeist " and referred to the fact that behavioral researchers in his view have found out about social behavior , learning and discrimination In particular, the communication of many animals is "sufficiently versatile to question the usual denial of spiritual experience , comparable to ours."

The recognition of mental and social abilities in animals provides important supporting documents are in the discussion about animal ethics and animal rights , for example, when to "any similarities intellectual or linguistic abilities of man postulates and those particular to justify the special protection of animal groups such as chimpanzees or dolphins used become."

The best-known representatives of cognitive ethology include the Americans Colin Allen ( Indiana University Bloomington ) and Marc Bekoff ( University of Colorado Boulder ) as well as Julia Fischer ( University of Göttingen ) and Thomas Bugnyar ( University of Vienna ) in German-speaking countries .

criticism

The application of theories and methods of cognitive science and in particular the terminology of cognitive ethology (“intentions”, “thinking”, “spirit”, “reason”) to animal behavior is controversial. In Georg Toepfer's Historical Dictionary of Biology , for example, it says: “The term cognitive ethology is primarily used in philosophical literature. Some biologists who study cognitive processes in animals are reluctant to use the term because it is associated with a highly descriptive and anecdotal evidence- based approach. "

See also

• Tool use in animals
• Differentiation of quantities in animals
• Handbook of Comparative Psychology

literature

• Oliver Düßmann: Critique of Cognitive Ethology. (= Epistemata Philosophy. Volume 297). 2001, ISBN 3-8260-2019-7 .
• Donald R. Griffin : The Question of Animal Awareness: Evolutionary Continuity of Mental Experience. Rockefeller University Press, New York 1976, ISBN 0-87470-020-5 .
• Markus Wild : Philosophical Implications of Cognitive Ethology. In: Kristian Köchy, Matthias Wunsch, Martin Böhnert (Ed.): Philosophy of Animal Research. Volume 2: maxims and consequences. Verlag Karl Alber, Freiburg / Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-495-48743-3 , pp. 163–194.

Web links

• Department of Cognitive Ethology at the German Primate Center. Last accessed on December 22, 2018
• Department of Cognitive Biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna. Last accessed on December 22, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Marc Bekoff: Cognitive Ecology. In: William Bechtel, George Graham: A Companion to Cognitive Science. Blackwell Publishers, 1998, ISBN 1-55786-542-6 , pp. 371-379.
2. ↑ Donald R. Griffin : Prospects for a Cognitive Ethology. In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Volume 1, No. 4, 1978, pp. 527-538, doi: 10.1017 / S0140525X00076524
3. ↑ Julia Fischer : Cognitive Ethology. In: Arianna Ferrari, Klaus Petrus: Lexicon of animal-human relationships. transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8376-2232-4 , p. 200.
4. ↑ Georg Toepfer: Historical dictionary of biology. Volume 1, JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2011, ISBN 978-3-476-02316-2 , p. 476.