Comparative psychology studies animal behavior by comparing different species under similar conditions. It focuses on animal intelligence, adaptation to different environments, and evolution. The use of a small number of species has been criticized for limiting the comparative method. Monkeys are often studied for their similarities to humans.
Comparative psychology is a field of study that seeks to understand the behavior of animals. Researchers approach this field in many different ways, but to a large extent they focus on comparing various species to see how they respond under similar experimental conditions. This so-called “comparison method” is the main reason for the name of the field. It is also very common for comparative psychologists to examine the ways humans and animals can differ in behavior.
One of the main things that comparative psychologists study is animal intelligence. They often come up with various ways to challenge the animals in areas like problem solving and memory. In many cases, they will subject different species to the same intelligence tests to see how they compare to each other. These studies are also often very interested in how animals compare to people in their ways of thinking and general intelligence.
Over time, this attempt to study animal intelligence has proven to be a difficult task. Many animals appear to be unusually intelligent in some areas while failing miserably in others. Some experts have decided that the common definitions for animal intelligence are too narrow because different species have brains that evolved for entirely different purposes. An animal could potentially be a genius in the areas it needs to survive, totally missing the mark by most human definitions of intelligence.
Another important area of study for those practicing comparative psychology is how animals adapt behaviorally to different environments. For example, experts can study the similarities and behavioral differences between many different arctic or rainforest species, looking for connections. This is often part of a larger study of evolution in general and how it affects psychology in people and animals.
Despite their interest in the differences among many different species, comparative psychologists have often stuck to a small enough number of animals for most experiments. For example, there was a long time when most animal behavior studies were conducted in rodents. It was often more a matter of convenience than anything else. Lab mice are readily available and relatively inexpensive to maintain. The occasional tendency to focus on a small group of species has sometimes been criticized as limiting the use of the comparative method, which is thought to be important for reasons of scientific validation.
Many comparative psychology studies have focused on different types of monkeys due to their similarities to humans. Experts often look for parallels between monkey behavior and human behavior in an attempt to make judgments about behavioral evolution. This has generally allowed experts to identify apes with the closest similarities to humans and has led to a variety of different theories about the psychological evolution of humans in areas such as social behavior and tool use.
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