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Primate naturalistic research and problems of early experience
Author(s) -
Menzel E. W.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420010305
Subject(s) - naturalism , primate , context (archaeology) , psychology , reflexive pronoun , naturalistic observation , field (mathematics) , cognitive psychology , point (geometry) , social environment , epistemology , ecology , cognitive science , social psychology , geography , sociology , social science , mathematics , biology , neuroscience , philosophy , geometry , archaeology , pure mathematics
This paper attempts to approach behavioral development and early experience from a naturalistic, ecologically oriented point of view, and it reviews illustrative data from recent primate field studies, particularly in the area of social behavior. What is the ecological‐social context into which the infant primate must fit himself and what are the end‐points toward which normal development must move? Where does the infant locate himself within his context? Where will he be andwhat will he do at successive stages in development? These are the sorts of questions that are posed. In general, a naturalistic approach to development starts from that which is already there—i.e., groups of animals in their native habitats—and it tries to describe and analyze, first in broad outline, and then with increasing detail, how they come to be as they are. It supplements, complements, and in some respects reverses the traditional approach of experimental psychology, which takes a “naive” individual alone in an “absolutely controlled” and usually empty environment as a theoretical model, and tries to work from this ground up to normal ecosystems by adding variables one at a time.