Animal Psychology A Guide
What Is Animal Psychology
Animals have minds Animal psychology is the science which illustrates that animals possess minds like humans. It examines how animals learn. It studies how animals find solutions to problems. It takes a look at animal memory and animal feelings. The aim is to look at the world from the animal’s perspective. We study many animals. We study dogs and cats. We study birds and fish. We study apes and elephants. We even study insects. All minds are different. We want to know them all.
How We Study Animal Minds
Researchers study animals using careful tests. They watch animals in nature. This is called observation. They observe what animals do each day. They see how they find food. They observe the way they live in colonies. They observe how they rear their children.
Researchers also work with animals in laboratories. They make controlled experiments. They give animals puzzles to solve. They test their memory. They see their brain activity. They train animals signs or symbols to act as a link in communication. This serves as a gateway to their minds.
The most famous example is the mirror test. This test is about whether an animal knows itself. A counter-mark is placed on the animal face. And then the animal encounters a mirror. Each touch is an indication that the animal has selfrecognition. Only a handful of animals can pass this test. Apes and dolphins pass. Even an elephant or two, perhaps a few birds. This says something about their mentality.
Why Animal Feelings Matter
For a long time, the people used to say animals didn’t have emotions. They claimed animals were mechanisms. Now we know this is wrong. Science tells us animals do feel a lot of things. They feel fear and joy. They feel stress and comfort. They love their friends and family. When someone dies, they mourn.
An elephant will keep vigil for days beside a dead friend. A dog doesn’t eat when his owner is gone. A crow will not go to a flock where it has been hurt. These actions show feelings. Recognizing that animals have emotions alters how we care for them. It means we must be kind. It’s that we have to shield them.
How Animals Learn
Animals learn in different ways. That can happen in a couple of different ways — Trial and error is one of them. An animal tries something. The animal will try it again if it works. If it don’t succeed, the animal will quit. A squirrel discovers which nuts are good by trying them. A cat is taught how to open a door by pushing it.
Another is by observing others. Young animals watch their parents. They learn how to hunt or build a nest. Certain birds pick up songs from their fathers. Some monkeys learn to wash food from older monkeys. This is called social learning.
Some animals can even learn sophisticated things. Apes can learn sign language. They can ask for things. They can talk about the past. They can make jokes. Who the fuck are you?You don’t have to be weird because my parrot can learn many different words. It can answer questions. It can see colors and shapes. It demonstrates their brain is able to comprehend ideas in language.
Animal Problem Solving
Animals can be quite clever problem solvers. A famous example is the crow. Crows use tools. They bend wires into hooks. To give you an example of the hooks at work, they use them to get food out of a tube. They can plan steps ahead. They can recognize human faces that are unfriendly to them.
Octopuses are very clever. They can open jars. They can escape from tanks. They can use shells to hide. They learn by watching. They have a different sort of brain. Their brain is in their arms. Each arm can think a little. This is amazing to see.
Even bees can solve problems. Bees do a dance to talk. The dance informs the other bees where food is. The dance indicates direction and distance. This is a nuanced language of movement. It reveals a smart mind in a diminutive body.
Memory In Animals
Animals have memory. Some have very good memory. A squirrel recalls the locations of thousands of nuts it’s buried. A bird knows migration routes across continents.
Elephants remember other elephants for decades. A dog remembers commands and people years after the fact.
Memory helps animals survive. It guides them to food and water. It lets them know friends and enemies. It enables them to teach their offspring. Memory is the mark of having a thinking mind.
David Hume And Animal Minds
This was written about long ago by a thinker named David Hume. He was a man of the 1700s. They can’t tell us about their inner lives, but we can learn a lot by looking in the mirror. He said people and animals are the same. We are all part of nature. We learn from experience.
We operate out of our feelings and habits. Animal thought and feeling is evident, he said. “You see a dog show love or fear,” he said. A bird forms with skill its nest we view;. This shows a mind at work. We ought, said Hume, to rely on observation. We have to watch animals in order to know them. His notions were of use to science at a later period. “We’re not so different from animals,” he said. Emotion and thought are ours in common.
Animals And Humans Together
Many animals live with humans. The most frequent are dogs and cats. We have something different for them. Animal psychology allows us to live better with them. We are taught how to train dogs kindly. We are informed what makes a cat happy. We understand their stress signals. It makes their life better and it makes our lives better.
We can also apply animal psychology for the benefit of wild animals. We learn how to protect them. We build better zoos and sanctuaries. We create environments that accommodate their natural minds. We care for animals that are injured or frightened.
The Big Question Of Consciousness
The largest is consciousness. Do animals know they exist. Do they have a sense of self. The search for answers continues in science. Some animals appear to know themselves. They recognize themselves. They plan for the future. They appear to reflect on their reflections. This is a deep mystery. We are still learning.
What We Must Remember
Animal psychology teaches us respect. Animals are not things. They are living minds. They have their own world. They feel pain and pleasure. They have families and friends. They solve problems every day. They remember and learn.
We are on this earth with them. We must be good friends. We have to follow what science is pointing out. We have to use our learning to be kind. We must protect their homes. We must treat them with care.
Animal Psychology is a voyage of discovery. It is the journey into another mind. It is a journey that expands our world. Every discovery is a gift. It lets us glimpse the wonder of life. It allows us to realize we are not alone in our thoughts and feelings. Many minds share this earth. We are all members of one extended family of life.