Chapter 31, Problem 13A

Summary Introduction

To write:The difficulties scientists get while trying to determine if animals engage in cognitive behavior.

Introduction:Animal cognition, comparative cognition, animal learning and animal intelligence are the different studies of the psychology of animals. The primary goal is to understand the cognitive, emotionaland other different processes ofthe animal mind.

Explanation of Solution

Studying the psychology of other species is not easy hence making inferences about the psychology of animals based on their behavior is important. The different difficulties scientists go through while trying to determine if animals engage in cognitive behavior are:

1. The complexity of Parsimony: The difficulties of making inferences about internal mechanisms led to the study of cognitive aspects of animal behavior.
2. Individual Differences: Researchers of animal behavior investigate individual differences of animal such as their personality, behavior and temperament.
3. Putting the Comparative Back into Comparative Psychology: Cataloging the abilities of various species helps in understanding the psychology of animals.Comparative study does not mean only collecting information on a wide scale,but it implies active comparison.
4. Ecological Relevance: Developing experimental stimuli and tasksdefines the natural abilities of animals. More common response of an intermediate complexity can help in offering an accurate balance between control and ecological concern.
5. Strong Inference: Comparative psychology is based on proofs that whether animals do have mind, metacognition, episodic memory, and empathymay or may not.
6. Replication and Reproducible Research: A core principle is to replicate studies.The small sample sizes can make the replication difficult. Encouraging the common practice of replicating the work and publishing these replications, even if they result in different findings.

Conclusion

The difficulties scientists get while trying to determine if animals engage in cognitive behavior are as follows:

1. The complexity of Parsimony.
2. Individual Differences.
3. Putting the Comparative Back into Comparative Psychology.
4. Ecological Relevance
5. Strong Inference
6. Replication and Reproducible Research