E. L. Thorndike and the Origins of Animal Psychology On the Nature of the Animal in Psychology Henderikus J. Stam and Tanya Kalmanovitch) z" n! w$ j G% p
University of Calgary
( g8 l6 W2 H) j# \& R0 eE. L. Thorndike's deliberate use of the experimental method and rejection of anthropomorphism and anecdotalism place him squarely at the beginning of a century of animal research in psychology. The authors examine Thorndike's critique of the extant research of his day and the development of his methods, including the important way in which animals and children were often taken as interchangeable sources of data for the new functional psychology. Thorndike's research clearly altered the relationship between psychologist and animal, as is demonstrated by his own studies and those that were published in the decade that followed. The authors review this body of work in the early 20th century for (a) the manner in which it exchanges anthropomorphism for mechanicotheriomorphism and (b) its constitution of the animal as a conflation between organism and technology. The authors conclude by noting the importance of debates concerning anthropomorphism in psychology for the century-long question of consciousness. 4 o7 L7 _ g/ N6 @5 m4 `- A7 ]
October 1998 • American Psychologist
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American Psychologist.rar (1.89 MB)
Is this guy,right? |