Open AccessToward a new outlook on primate learning and behavior: complex learning and emergent processes in comparative perspective 1
Author(s) -
RUMBAUGH DUANE M.,
SAVAGERUMBAUGH E. SUE,
WASHBURN DAVID A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
japanese psychological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5884
pISSN - 0021-5368
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5884.1996.tb00016.x
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , cognitive science , epistemology , comparative psychology , psychology , primate , organism , animal behavior , primatology , nonhuman primate , psychological research , natural (archaeology) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , sociology , computer science , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , evolutionary biology , cognition , history , philosophy , biology , zoology , anthropology , paleontology , archaeology
Primate research of the 20th century has established the validity of Darwin's postulation of psychological as well as biological continuity between humans and other primates, notably the great apes. Its data make clear that Descartes' view of animals as unfeeling “beast‐machines” is invalid and should be discarded. Traditional behavioristic frameworks — that emphasize the concepts of stimulus, response, and reinforcement and an “empty‐organism” psychology — are in need of major revisions. Revised frameworks should incorporate the fact that, in contrast to the lifeless databases of the “hard” sciences, the database of psychology entails properties novel to life and its attendant phenomena. The contributions of research this century, achieved by field and laboratory researchers from around the world, have been substantial — indeed revolutionary. It is time to celebrate the progress of our field, to anticipate its significance, and to emphasize conservation of primates in their natural habitats.