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Animal Cognition

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Comparative psychology. Comparative psychology. Comparative psychology refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior.

Comparative psychology

Research in this area addresses many different issues, uses many different methods, and explores the behavior of many different species, from insects to primates.[1][2] Comparative psychology is sometimes assumed to emphasize cross-species comparisons, including those between humans and animals. However, some researchers feel that direct comparisons should not be the sole focus of comparative psychology and that intense focus on a single organism to understand its behavior is just as desirable; if not more so. Donald Dewsbury reviewed the works of several psychologists and their definitions and concluded that the object of comparative psychology is to establish principles of generality focusing on both proximate and ultimate causation.[3] History[edit]

Animal cognition. Personality: not just for humans.