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1.2. The subject, tasks, methods and significance of zoopsychology

Lecture



Comparative psychology:

  • child psychology
  • zoopsychology
  • anthropopshology

Comparative psychology examines the problem of anthropogenetically significant features of higher vertebrates, especially primates. A special area is the study of animal intelligence. Sometimes comparative psychology is perceived as a method, rather than an independent science.

Zoopsychology studies phylogenesis, ontogenesis, laws and functions of the psyche, innate and acquired. She considers in a comparative aspect the psychology of primates and man, especially a child.

Subject and object of zoopsychology:

The object is the behavior, practical activity of animals.

The subject is their mental reflection, that is, the psyche.

Ethology and psychology of GNI have the same object. Ethologists study the behavior of animals, but they are interested in the phenomenon of behavior itself, the motor picture. Behavior is a systematic feature (like coloring, for example). Etogram - a detailed description based on the video and analyzed in detail frame by frame. The result is a picture of the behavior of the animal in various situations (functional diagrams), revealing similar features with representatives of close and distant groups. Ethology studies congenital, instinctive forms of behavior. Sometimes separate forms of behavior are studied: mammals run, behavior as a factor of adaptation to the environment, etc. Physiologists observe animals in laboratories where the animal is examined with the help of equipment.

Zoopsychology is a science that studies the mental activity of animals in all its manifestations. The subject of zoopsychology can be defined as the subject of the science of manifestations, patterns and evolution of mental reflection at the animal level, the origin and development of mental processes in animals and phylogenesis in animals and the prerequisites and prehistory of human consciousness. In addition, the subject of zoopsychology is the origin and development of mental activity in animals, and as a consequence of this - the prerequisites for the emergence and development of human consciousness.

The object of zoopsychology is animal behavior. In addition to zoopsychology, other sciences also study animal behavior, for example, ethology, neurophysiology, physiology of higher nervous activity, and bionics. The behavior of animals is understood as the totality of manifestations of the external, mainly motor activity of the animal, aimed at establishing vital links of the organism with the environment. A zoopsychologist examines the full range of behavioral manifestations and mental activity of an animal, considering the process of mental reflection as a product of its external activity. When studying this process, it is never limited to the behavior of the animal, trying to consider the entire mental aspect of the emergence and development of this particular type of behavior.

Considering the object of zoopsychological research - animal behavior, it should be pointed out that zoopsychology, unlike classical psychology, where only one object of research is a person, has a huge number of objects, the number of which is still not known for certain. Every year in the world are described hundreds of new species of animals. Each species has its own biological and, consequently, mental features, therefore, to create a more or less complete database of zoopsychological data, it is necessary to carefully examine at least one member of the family, and at best, the genus. However, modern zoopsychologists are very far from this goal, as only a few dozen species of insects, fish, birds and mammals have been thoroughly and reliably studied, and only fragmentary information is available on the behavior of the vast majority of species. In modern psychology, the term "animal" can be used only in a comparative psychological understanding, when it comes to low levels of organization of the psyche as a whole.

It is necessary to dwell in greater detail on the concepts with which zoopsychologists often operate, namely: the psyche, behavior and mental activity of animals.

The psyche arises only at a certain stage of development of the organic world and is the highest form of reflection of objective reality. The psyche is expressed in the ability of highly organized living beings to reflect the world around them. The emergence of the psyche is directly related to the appearance of the animal form of life, since with a change in the conditions of vital activity, there is a need for a qualitatively new reflection of objective reality. The psyche allows a living organism to correlate its activity with the components of the environment, therefore, to ensure normal functioning in changing environmental conditions, the vast majority of animals have a single center for controlling the nervous activity of the body - the brain.

The psyche of animals is closely related to the behavior, which refers to all manifestations of external (motor) activity, aimed at establishing links with the environment. Mental reflection is carried out on the basis of this activity during the effects of an animal on the world around it. It reflects not only the components of the environment, but also the behavior of the animal itself, as well as changes in the environment as a result of this impact. In the psyche of higher vertebrates, the most complete and deep reflection of the surrounding objects is accomplished as a result of their changes under the influence of behavioral acts of the animal. As K. Fabry wrote, “it is fair to consider the psyche as a function of the animal organism, consisting in the reflection of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world in the course and result of activity directed at this world, that is, of behavior. External activity and its reflection, behavior and psyche constitute an inseparable organic unity and can only be conditionally dissected for scientific analysis. As shown by IM. Sechenov, the psyche is born and dies with movement, behavior. " [four]

Behavior is the primary cause of mental reflection, but although the psyche is a derivative of behavior, it is she who, correcting, directs the external activity of the organism to the right channel of interaction with the environment. Reflecting adequately the surrounding world with the help of the psyche, the animal acquires the ability to navigate in it, to build its relationship with the components of the environment.

The unity of the psyche and behavior is usually expressed by the concept of "mental activity". Here is what K. Fabry wrote about this: “By the mental activity of animals we understand the whole complex of behaviors and psyche, a single process of mental reflection as a product of the animal’s external activity. Such an understanding of mental activity, the indissoluble unity of the psyche and the behavior of animals opens up to zoopsychology the way to a true knowledge of their mental processes and to a fruitful study of the ways and laws of the evolution of the psyche. Therefore, taking into account the primacy of behavior in mental reflection, we will, when discussing certain aspects of the mental activity of animals, proceed primarily from an analysis of their motor activity in the specific conditions of their life. ” [five]

It was the emergence of behavior together with the animal form of life that led to the transition from non-mediated (pre-psychic) ​​external activity to mental reflection, that is, activity mediated by reflection of objective activity. The field of activity of the zoopsychologist is at the junction of the pre-psychic and mental reflection, at the level of the first manifestations of sensitivity, expressed in the most primitive organisms. Further, exploring the mental activity of animals that are at different levels of evolution, the zoopsychologist reaches the line of human consciousness. The human psyche compared with the psyche of animals is a qualitatively different category associated with the psyche of animals genetically. Although biological factors continue to play an important role in human behavior, social labor activity, articulate speech and some other factors absent in animals also have a significant influence on its essence.

Simultaneously with the psychological study of the behavior of animals, it is quite widely, especially in recent decades, its general biological principles and laws are studied. The science that studies these phenomena is called ethology. Ethological scientists are primarily interested in the behavior of animals as a factor in their adaptation to environmental conditions in the course of individual development and in the process of evolution. In addition, ethologists are trying to identify patterns of behavior change in the course of phylogenesis and the emergence of new forms of behavior. Thus, ethologists primarily pay attention to the biological roots of behavior and its adaptive value in the process of evolution. Zoopsychology and ethology complement each other: the first science studies the mental aspects of animal behavior, the second - the biological. These two aspects cannot be separated, because the psyche of animals is a necessary component of both ontogenesis and phylogenesis, which regulates the relations of the organism with the environment.

The links between zoopsychologists and neurophysiology and physiology of higher nervous activity are quite significant. In contrast to the zoopsychologist, the physiologist studies not the mental reflection itself, but the processes in the body that determine its occurrence. When studying the behavior, the physiologist first of all pays attention to the functions of the nervous system, in particular the brain, its main task is to study the activity of the systems and organs involved in the behavior of the animal as an integral organism.

The main methods of zoopsychological research. The psychological analysis of the animal's behavior is carried out by the zoopsychologist during a detailed study of the movements of the experimental animal in the process of solving specific problems. Tasks should be selected in such a way that the movements of the animal can most accurately judge the specific mental quality. We should not forget about the physiological state of the animal, the conditions of the experiment, as well as any external factors that could distort the purity of the experiment. It is also necessary to use direct observations of the behavior of animals in natural conditions. In this case, it is important to trace the changes occurring in the behavior of the animal during certain changes in the environment, which makes it possible to judge both the external causes of mental activity and the adaptive functions of the latter.

When studying the behavior of animals, it is also extremely important to conduct quantitative assessments of both external environmental factors and the behavior of animals. It is also necessary to take into account the biological adequacy of the conditions of the experiment and the methods used. As a rule, for carrying out experiments with a particular type of animal, a certain technique is chosen. Otherwise, if the experiment is carried out without taking into account the specific features of the biology of the studied species and the natural behavior in the experimental environment, the results obtained in the process of work may not correspond to reality.

Methods of zoopsychological research are diverse, but all of them generally boil down to setting certain tasks for animals. Most of these methods were developed at the beginning of the 20th century, and since then they have been successfully used in most zoopsychological laboratories.

Labyrinth method. The main task for the animal is to find a path to a goal that is not directly perceived by them. The ultimate goal can serve as food bait, and shelter, sexual partner. In case of a noticeable deviation from the target, the punishment of the animal may be applied. The simplest maze has the form of a T-shaped corridor or tube. With the right choice of a turn, the animal receives a reward, with a wrong turn - is punished. More complex labyrinths consist of various combinations of T-shaped elements and dead ends, entry into which is regarded as animal errors. The results of the animal are evaluated according to the number of mistakes made by him and the speed of reaching the final goal. The maze method is very popular in zoopsychological research. It can be used to study issues related to the ability of animal learning, such as spatial orientation, in particular the role of skin-muscular and other forms of sensitivity, memory, the formation of sensory generalizations, and many others.

Another equally popular method of zoopsychological research is called the workaround method. Here, to achieve the goal, the animal needs to bypass one or several obstacles. In contrast to the maze method, the final goal is directly perceived by the object throughout the journey. The assessment takes into account the speed and trajectory of movement of the animal during the obstruction of the obstacle. Famous Russian zoopsychologist L.V. Krushinsky (1911–1984, “Formation of animal behavior in health and pathology”, 1960; “Biological bases of rational activity”, 1979; “Problems of animal behavior”, 1993) slightly modified this method and successfully used it in studying the ability of different animal species to extrapolation (see the following sections).

The method of differentiation training is aimed at identifying the ability of an animal to distinguish several objects or characters. The correct choice is rewarded, in case of an error the penalty is applied. Gradually reducing the differences between objects, it is possible to reveal the limits of their differentiation by various animals. Using this method, you can get information describing the peculiarities of vision in animals of the studied species. This method is used to study the processes of formation of skills, memory, ability to communicate. In the latter case, by increasing the differences of the successively presented objects, they reveal the ability of the animal to orient in individual features of these objects.

The method of choosing a sample is one of the varieties of the method described above. The animal is invited to make a choice among various objects, focusing on a specific pattern. The right choice is rewarded. The method is used to study the sensory sphere of animals.

The problem box method (problem cell). In the course of the experiment, the animal must, with the help of various devices (levers, locks, pedals, latches, etc.) come out of a closed cage or, on the contrary, penetrate it. Sometimes locked boxes are used, inside which lies a treat: the animal is invited to remove it by opening the locks. The experiment can be complicated - in this case, the constipation opens in a strict sequence, which the animal must learn. With the help of this method, the complex forms of learning and the motor elements of the intellectual behavior of animals are investigated. It is most often used to study the behavior of animals with developed grasping limbs, for example, rats, monkeys, and raccoons. Experiments serve primarily to identify the higher mental abilities of animals.

In a number of experiments, the use of different types of weapons by animals (especially monkeys) is being studied. For example, with the help of a stick, the animal should pull up a treat to itself, move the inaccessible valve back, activate some mechanism. In a series of experiments with apes, boxes and other objects are used, from which they must build "pyramids" in order to reach the highly suspended fruit. And in this case, the analysis of the structure of the objective activity of the animal during the solution of the problem is of the greatest importance.

In addition, in zoopsychological studies applied analysis of the usual manipulation of various objects, not supported by any reward. The study of such behavior allows to draw conclusions about the game behavior of animals, orienting-exploratory activity, the ability to analyze and synthesize, and some other factors that shed light on the early stages of human evolution.

The value of zoopsychology. The data obtained in the course of zoopsychological research are important for solving the fundamental problems of psychology, in particular, for revealing the roots of a person’s psychological activity, the laws of origin and the development of his consciousness. In child psychology, zoopsychological studies help to identify the biological basis of the child’s psyche, its genetic roots. Zoopsychology also contributes to pedagogical psychology, because the communication of children with animals is of great educational and cognitive importance. As a result of such communication, complex mental contact and interaction between both partners are established, which can be effectively used for the mental and moral education of children.

In medical practice, the study of mental disorders of animals helps to study and treat the nervous and mental diseases of people. Применяются данные зоопсихологии и в сельском хозяйстве, звероводстве, охотничьем хозяйстве. Благодаря зоопсихологическим исследованиям становится возможным подготовить эти отрасли ко все возрастающему воздействию человека на естественную среду. Так, в звероводстве с помощью данных о поведении животных можно уменьшить стресс животных при содержании в клетках и загонах, увеличить продуктивность, компенсировать различные неблагоприятные условия.

Данные зоопсихологии необходимы и в антропологии, особенно при решении проблемы происхождения человека. Изучение поведения высших приматов, данные о высших психических функциях животных крайне важны для выяснения биологических предпосылок и основ антропогенеза, а также для изучения предыстории человечества и зарождения трудовой деятельности, общественной жизни и членораздельной речи.

Among the great mysteries of nature, to the knowledge of which the human mind has been striving since ancient times, the psyche of animals occupies one of the first places. "Mental life", mental qualities and the behavior of animals were included as essential components in folklore, religious ideas and worldview at all stages of human development. A lot of attention to these issues, especially the attitude of the animal psyche to the human psyche, was given by ancient thinkers when building their philosophical concepts.

А. И. Герцен писал: «Психология животных несравненно менее обращала на себя внимание ученых-естествоиспытателей, нежели их форма. Животная психология должна завершить, увенчать сравнительную анатомию и физиологию; она должна представить дочеловеческую феноменологию развертывающегося сознания; ее конец — при начале психологии человека, в которую она вливается, как венозная кровь в легкие, для того, чтобы одухотвориться и сделаться алой кровью, текущею в артериях истории». [2]

В наше время изучением психики животных занимается специальная наука — зоопсихология. Но прежде чем приступить к рассмотрению предмета и задач зоопсихологии, необходимо уточнить, что мы понимаем под психикой, поведением и психической деятельностью у животных.

Согласно ленинской теории отражения психика является по своему содержанию высшей формой отражения объективной реальности. Появившись лишь на определенном этапе развития органического мира, психика присуща только высокоорганизованным живым существам. Она выражается в их способности отражать своим состоянием окружающий мир. Началом этого этапа в эволюции органического мира следует считать появление животной формы жизни, ибо именно специфические условия жизнедеятельности животных породили необходимость качественно нового, активного отражения объективной действительности, способного регулировать усложнившиеся отношения организма со средой.

Таким образом, психика является формой отражения, позволяющей животному организму адекватно ориентировать свою активность по отношению к компонентам среды. При этом, служа активному отражению объективной реальности, материи, психика сама есть свойство высокоразвитой органической материи. Этой материей является нервная ткань животных (или ее аналоги). У подавляющего большинства животных имеется головной мозг — центральный орган нервно-психической деятельности.

Психика животных неотделима от их поведения, под которым мы понимаем всю совокупность проявлений внешней, преимущественно двигательной активности животного, направленную на установление жизненно необходимых связей организма со средой. Психическое отражение осуществляется на основе этой активности в ходе воздействий животного на окружающий мир. При этом отражаются не только сами компоненты окружающей среды, но и собственное поведение животного, а также произведенные им в результате этих воздействий изменения в среде. Притом у высших животных (у высших позвоночных), которым свойственны подлинные познавательные способности, наиболее полноценное и глубокое отражение предметов окружающего мира совершается именно в ходе их изменения под воздействием животного.

Таким образом, справедливо считать психику функцией животного организма, состоящей в отражении предметов и явлений окружающего мира в ходе и результате направленной на этот мир активности, т. е. поведения. Внешняя активность и ее отражение, поведение и психика составляют неразрывное органическое единство и могут лишь условно расчленяться для научного анализа. Как показал еще И. М. Сеченов, психика зарождается и умирает с движением, поведением.

Итак, первопричина психического отражения — поведение, посредством которого осуществляется взаимодействие с окружающей средой, без поведения нет психики. Но справедливо и обратное, ибо, являясь производной поведения, психика вторично сама корректирует и направляет внешнюю активность организма. В этом и состоит приспособительная роль психики: адекватно отражая окружающий мир, животное приобретает возможность ориентироваться в нем и в результате адекватно строить свои отношения с биологически значимыми компонентами среды.

Сущность диалектического единства поведения и психики лучше всего выражает понятие «психическая деятельность». Под психической деятельностью животных мы понимаем весь комплекс проявлений поведения и психики, единый процесс психического отражения как продукт внешней активности животного. Такое понимание психической деятельности, неразрывного единства психики и поведения животных, открывает перед зоопсихологией путь к истинному познанию их психических процессов и к плодотворному изучению путей и закономерностей эволюции психики. Поэтому, учитывая примат поведения в психическом отражении, мы будем при обсуждении отдельных аспектов психической деятельности животных исходить прежде всего из анализа их двигательной активности в конкретных условиях их жизни.

Определив объект зоопсихологии — психическую деятельность животных, мы можем теперь сформулировать предмет зоопсихологии как науки о проявлениях, закономерностях и эволюции психического отражения на уровне животного, о происхождении и развитии в онто- и филогенезе психических процессов у животных и о предпосылках и предыстории человеческого сознания. Зоопсихолог изучает эволюцию психики начиная с ее зачаточных форм до высших ее проявлений, составлявших основу зарождения человеческой психики.

Таким образом, компетенция зоопсихолога находится в пределах двух граней — нижней и верхней, представляющих собой одновременно главные вехи эволюции психики вообще. Нижняя грань знаменует начало психического отражения, исходную ступень его развития, верхняя — смену животной психики человеческой. Нижняя грань означает проблему качественного различия отражения у растений и животных, верхняя — у животных и людей. В первом случае приходится решать вопросы происхождения психики из более элементарной формы отражения, во втором — зарождения человеческой психики из элементарной по отношению к ней психики животных.

Материалистическое решение проблемы зарождения психики возможно лишь на основе признания возникновения психики из раздражимости, свойственной всей живой материи, в которой уже, как писал выдающийся советский психолог Л. С. Выготский, «заложены зачатки того, из чего впоследствии путем длительной эволюции должна развиваться человеческая психика». [3] Перефразируя изречение В. Гёте о том, что «все растения произошли из одного», Выготский подчеркивал, что «все формы психических явлений произошли из раздражимости». [four]

Основательную разработку проблема зарождения и развития психики получила в исследованиях известного советского психолога A. Н. Леонтьева. Леонтьев исходит из того, что живая материя на допсихическом уровне своего развития характеризуется в функциональном отношении «простой раздражимостью», т. е. способностью отвечать избирательно и специфическим образом на жизненно значимые воздействия среды в соответствии с потребностями обмена веществ. Биологическая эволюция сопряжена с усложнением обмена веществ. Соответственно взаимоотношения организма со средой развиваются в сторону все большего разнообразия видов раздражимости, так как организмы ассимилируют из внешней среды все большее число веществ и форм энергии.

Однако, как указывает Леонтьев, развитие раздражимости не сводится лишь к такому количественному усложнению. В результате того, что в ходе эволюции меняется также общий тип взаимодействия организмов со средой, возникает качественно новая форма раздражимости — чувствительность. Чувствительность же — это способность к ощущению, т. е. элементарное психическое явление. Другими словами, психика начинается там, где появляется качественно своеобразная высшая форма раздражимости — собственно чувствительность.

Важно подчеркнуть, что появление чувствительности знаменуется, как пишет Леонтьев, тем, что «организмы становятся раздражимыми и по отношению к таким воздействиям, которые сами по себе не в состоянии определить ни положительно, ни отрицательно их ассимилятивную деятельность, обмен веществ с внешней средой». [five]

Леонтьев поясняет это положение следующим примером. Лягушка раздражима по отношению к такому воздействию, как шорох, поскольку он вызывает у нее определенную (ориентировочную) реакцию. Но при этом «энергия звука шороха, воздействующая на организм лягушки, ни на одной из ступеней своего преобразования в организме не ассимилируется им и вообще прямо не участвует в его ассимилятивной деятельности. Иначе говоря, само по себе данное воздействие не может служить поддержанию жизни организма и, наоборот, оно вызывает лишь диссимиляцию вещества организма». [6] Биологическая же роль подобных воздействий и их отражения в виде ощущений заключается в том, что эти сами по себе непосредственно жизненно незначимые воздействия становятся для животного сигналами о возможности появления и поглощения необходимого для поддержания жизни вещества или энергии (в данном примере — насекомого и т. п.).

Таким образом, заключает Леонтьев, новая форма раздражимости, отражающая подобные воздействия, «опосредствует деятельность организма, направленную на поддержание жизни». [7] Наступает как бы раздвоение прежде единого процесса взаимодействия организма с внешней средой: «С одной стороны, выделяются процессы, с которыми непосредственно связаны поддержание и сохранение жизни. Эти процессы составляют первую, исходную форму жизнедеятельности организмов. В ее основе лежат явления первичной раздражимости организмов.

С другой стороны, выделяются процессы, прямо не несущие функции поддержания жизни и лишь опосредствующие связи организма с теми свойствами среды, от которых зависит его существование. Они составляют особую форму жизнедеятельности, которая и лежит в основе чувствительности организмов, психического отражения ими свойств внешней среды». [eight]

В этой концепции генезиса и сущности чувствительности как первичной формы психического отражения, разработанной Леонтьевым, особенно существенным является то, что психическое качество выводится непосредственно из жизнедеятельности организма. Речь идет о раздвоении деятельности организма, его активности, причем психика появляется здесь как новое свойство внешней активности. При этом, естественно, сама внешняя активность претерпевает глубокие качественные преобразования и превращается в поведение.

Можно, очевидно, считать, что появление вместе с животной формой жизни поведения знаменуется переходом от неопосредованной (допсихической) внешней активности к активности, опосредованной отражением предметной действительности (т. е. психическим отражением).

Таким образом, поле деятельности зоопсихолога начинается у стыка допсихического и психического отражения, на уровне первых проявлений чувствительности, способности к ощущению у низших представителей животного мира. Отсюда берет свое начало эволюция психики. Поднимаясь как бы террасами, образуемыми качественными эволюционными преобразованиями животной психики, поле деятельности зоопсихолога простирается отсюда до рубежа человеческого сознания.

Определяя «верхнюю грань» зоопсихологических исследований, важно подчеркнуть, что верный путь к изучению этой проблемы открывается лишь при учете как общих с животными эволюционных корней психической деятельности животных и человека, так и качественных перестроек, поднявших эту деятельность на совершенно новый, небывалый до того уровень развития.

По сравнению с психикой животных психика человека представляет собой качественно иную категорию, хотя генетически и связанную с психикой животных. В поведении человека продолжают играть определенную роль биологические, общие с животными факторы, но сущность человеческого поведения определяется глубокими качественными различиями между человеком и животным. Эти различия обусловлены общественно-трудовой деятельностью и членораздельной речью, которые всецело отсутствуют у животных.

Выдающийся советский ученый, основоположник отечественной зоопсихологии В. А. Вагнер еще полвека тому назад всесторонне проанализировал взаимоотношения биологических и социальных факторов в жизни человека. Вагнер не отрицал наличия общих элементов в психике человека и животных, но подчеркивал как важнейшую задачу необходимость выявления и учета качественных различий между человеком и животными. Характерный для него истинно эволюционный подход к проблемам психической деятельности животных не имел ничего общего с плоским эволюционизмом, стирающим всякую грань между животным и человеком и постулирующим всю эволюцию психики от простейших до человека как цепь лишь количественных совершенствований и преобразований. Этот «монизм снизу» (по терминологии Вагнера), представленный разными вариантами в теории Ж. Леба о тропизмах, в положениях бихевиористов, рефлексологов и других, подвергся Вагнером острой критике.

Но, выступая против упрощенчества в толковании поведения животных, против низведения сложного к простому, низведения высших форм психических функций, в том числе и психики человека, к низшим, Вагнер одновременно вел не менее решительную борьбу с, казалось бы, противоположным течением — «монизмом сверху», с антропоморфизмом в зоопсихологии.

Антропоморфизм выражается в суждении о психических явлениях у животных по аналогии с таковыми у человека, в представлении о наличии у животных таких психических свойств и способностей, которые на самом деле присущи только человеку. Антропоморфическое толкование поведения животных с точки зрения человеческих мотивов и поступков, стирание грани между человеком и животным ведут к отрицанию качественных особенностей человеческой психики.

Comparing “monism from above” and “monism from below”, it is easy to see that they essentially merge on the basis of a general denial of the qualitative differences between the individual stages of phylogenesis and especially between animal and man.

Describing the common and different in the behavior of humans and animals, Vygotsky pointed to "the fact that the development of higher mental functions occurs without a change in the biological type of man, while a change in the biological type is the basis of the evolutionary type of development." [9] The main difference of human mental activity from that of animals is that thanks to social and labor practice and the articulate speech connected with it, man is capable of reflecting objective reality in two planes - sensual and conceptual, that is, along with by his sensual reflection he also has a plan of abstract-logical thinking, carried out with the help of concepts. This is what determines the essence of consciousness.

As for animals, even among the most highly developed of their representatives, the mental reflection of the surrounding world takes place only in one plane, namely the sensual one; the second, abstract logical plan is absent from them.

However, without logical thinking (with the help of abstract concepts) it is impossible to comprehend the essence of things and processes, it is impossible to know the root of cause-and-effect relationships, genuine, essential patterns. As a result, animals ’cognition of environmental components and the relationship between them is limited only to directly perceived ones (in the present or the past), and this cognition is mostly carried out in the course of the motor activity directed at these components. Distant perception usually gives the animal only superficial, signaling information. The reflection of their own actions, their own behavior, aimed at the objects of the surrounding world, gives the animal the most complete information about this world. (To a limited extent, cognitive activity is also found in the form of imitation, when learning takes place by contemplating the actions of other animals.)

A person is able to penetrate the essence of things and phenomena, to know the laws of their origin and development, by definition, V. I. Lenin, going from living contemplation to abstract thinking. At the same time, a person can not only acquire, but also purposefully transfer to other people the knowledge formulated orally or in writing as abstract concepts, and almost unlimitedly.

Speaking about the subject of zoopsychology and the limits of the field of activity of the zoopsychologist, it should be noted that Wagner considered zoopsychology only a part of comparative psychology, in which he included human psychology as a second component. At present, comparative psychology is considered to be the science of the laws of the origin and development of the psyche of animals and man, of the general and the different in their mental activity. Thus, the subject of comparative psychology, going beyond the bounds of zoopsychological research, includes as an obligatory component a comparative (in relation to animals) study of human mental activity. Therefore, a comparative psychological analysis is based on data from zoopsychology and human psychology and is aimed at identifying in ontogeny and phylogenesis both similar mental components, indicating a common origin of the mental processes of animals and humans, and qualitative differences of the human psyche.

The origin of scientific zoopsychology and comparative psychology dates back to the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century, when the works of the greatest biologists of that time appeared - J. L. L. L. Buffon and J. B. Lamarck. Subsequently, Charles Darwin played a particularly important role with his research, showing the common origin of the mental processes of animals and humans, along with the common origin of the signs of their structure. However, at the initial stage of development of comparative psychology, the qualitative differences of the human psyche and the animal were lost sight of. In the post-Darwin period, anthropomorphic views became widespread, and the absence of scientific facts, as already noted, was filled with superficial judgments about mental processes in animals, by analogy with human mental activity. We have already mentioned above the criticism by Wagner of such anthropomorphic as well as vulgar materialist views on mental activity.

Equally erroneous and unpromising are still existing, it would seem, the opposite in spirit of the concept, built on the complete separation of the psyche of animals from such a person. In this case, we are talking about the subjective-idealistic, anti-evolutionary postulate of the exclusivity of the human psyche (which can only be explained by its divine creation), which seems to be something closed in itself, a kind of special "spiritual principle" generated by factors that can not be studied scientifically. A similar view of the essence of the mental characterizes the “psychophysical parallelism”, according to which the psyche exists independently of matter, obeying only its own internal “non-material” laws. Thus, the existence of the material basis of the psyche and the causal connection between it and the physiological processes in the body is denied, and some special patterns of mental activity are postulated, ostensibly radically different from the patterns of development of the organic world. As a result, all paths to the cognition of the psychic are closed, especially in animals where there is no possibility of self-observation. But thereby, zoopsychology loses its subject of study, and therefore the right to exist.

This shows that the true study of the mental activity of animals is possible only from the standpoint of dialectical materialism with the understanding of the psyche as a product of the development of higher forms of organic matter, performing the function of reflecting the components of an objectively existing material world. In this case, as already noted, a complete and true picture of mental activity can only be obtained by a comprehensive study of the behavior and psyche of animals, taking into account both their unity and the qualitative differences between them. Therefore, modern materialistic zoopsychology that has emerged in the fight against idealistic and vulgar-materialistic views is based on understanding and studying the psyche of animals from the dialectical unity of behavior and psyche and builds a scientific search on an objective psychological analysis of the structure of animal behavior, taking into account the ecological and physiological characteristics of the studied species.

With this approach, the argument that caused the distrust of zoopsychology as a science, is removed, about the imaginary unknowability of the psyche of animals, about the impossibility of penetrating into their subjective world. In addition to what has already been said on this issue, it should be noted that this argument embodies the wrong idea about the tasks of zoopsychology. Scientific zoopsychology does not set itself the task of knowing the subjective coloring of animal experiences. But it can and should give answers, for example, to such questions: what is the essence and characteristic features of perceptions, ideas and other mental categories in animals, do animals think, what are the distinctive signs of their elementary thinking, etc.

Along with the psychological study of animal behavior in recent decades, the study of the general biological foundations and patterns of animal behavior has become widespread. This is done by ethologists, who are primarily interested in the behavior of animals as an environmental factor, as a factor in the adaptation of animals to environmental conditions in the course of individual development and in the process of evolution. At the same time, the ethologist seeks to identify also patterns of behavior change in the course of phylogenesis and the emergence of new forms of behavior. In short, we are talking about biological roots and the adaptive meaning of behavior. At the same time, the specifics of ethological analysis (especially phylogenetic aspects) and forces the researcher to pay attention primarily to the type-specific (genetically fixed, i.e. instinctive) components of behavior that exhibit the same stability and taxonomic (systematic) accuracy and significance as morphological signs.

Based on a multitude of field observations and experimental data, ethologists have created a coherent theory of “behavior biology,” in which the modern concept of instinctive behavior is central. They made a valuable contribution to evolutionary theory, to functional morphology, population ecology, animal taxonomy, zoogeography, to a number of applied branches (animal husbandry, animal breeding, hunting, fishing, nature conservation, bionics), etc.

So, zoopsychologists direct their efforts to the study of the mental aspects of behavior, ethologists - biological. It is clear that these two aspects can be divided only conditionally: without taking into account mental factors it is impossible to cover all the biological aspects of behavior. The psyche of animals is not an appendage, not an epiphenomenon, but an absolutely necessary component of onto- and phylogenesis, regulating the relations of the organism with the environment. The outstanding Soviet zoologist, academician A. N. Severtsov, convincingly showed that in the process of evolution, the psyche plays a decisive adaptive role in certain situations. Therefore, the development of the psyche of animals was a historical necessity, and it can be said that without the mental reflection of reality, without the improvement of this reflection, the evolution of the animal world would not be possible.

On the other hand, zoopsychology cannot develop without creative collaboration with ethology. After all, the psychic is manifested only in unity with the activity, with external activity, the behavior of animals. Only by relying on the knowledge gained by ethologists about the biological aspects and patterns of animal behavior (especially relating to the natural behavior of animals in natural conditions) can one penetrate successfully into the mental world of an animal, which is entirely subject to biological laws and reflects the biological relationships of the organism with the environment.

No less significant are the links between zoopsychology and physiology, especially with the neurophysiology and physiology of higher nervous activity. But here, too, the division of labor between the zoopsychologist and a representative of the related science appears quite clearly, as well as the need to rally their efforts in studying the common object of research - behavior.

In contrast to the zoopsychologist, the physiologist studies not the mental reflection itself, but the processes causing it in the body. Physiological research is also carried out (as well as zoopsychological) by analyzing behavior, but from a different angle, with a different target setting. In this case, the physiologist, naturally, pays the main attention to the functions of the nervous system and the brain. His first task is to study the activity of systems and organs directly or indirectly involved in the behavior of an animal as a whole organism.

Of course, when studying the processes occurring in the body that cause mental reflection, the physiologist, like the zoopsychologist and the ethologist, must always bear in mind that the organism is a single whole. But the behavioral act is not just the sum of physiological processes. At the behavioral level, the level of motor activity of the whole organism as a whole in conjunction with a complex of environmental factors, a new quality arises, which is determined by the highest level of integration of all life processes. To reduce behavior to its physiological mechanisms is to blur the line between the whole and the partial, between the processes that determine the external activity of the organism and this activity itself. Therefore, it is impossible to approach ethological or zoopsychological works with the same standard as physiological ones. The tasks of physiology other than ethology or zoopsychology. None of these sciences can replace the other, and only close cooperation and mutual enrichment are a condition for the progress of each of them.

The significance of the study of the mental activity of animals for Marxist philosophy is clearly defined by V.I. Lenin’s remark in “Philosophical Notebooks” that “the history of the mental development of animals” refers to those areas of knowledge “of which the theory of knowledge and dialectics should be formed”. [ten]

The importance of zoopsychology data is also great for solving the fundamental problems of general psychology, for revealing the biological roots of human mental activity and the laws of origin and development of his consciousness. As Vygotsky pointed out, modern psychology "regards each form of behavior as a product of a long process of development, as a form historically associated with the preceding lower forms." [eleven]

Knowledge of the mental activity of animals is also important for child psychology, where zoopsychological research helps to reveal the biological basis of the development of the child's psyche and, in comparative psychological terms, its genetic roots. To solve an extremely important and complex problem - the development of the human psyche in ontogenesis - researchers have to study the early stages of development, including the embryonic period. And at these stages, biological factors that are common to humans and animals play a particularly important role. So, for example, it is now known that the child’s behavior, especially in the early stages of development, is shaped to a greater extent under the influence of “key stimuli”, that there are “critical periods” during which “obligatory learning” processes take place (mainly in the form of "), Etc. (These important components of behavior will be considered further in characterizing the behavior of animals.) At the same time, zoopsychology also contributes to pedagogical psychology, since children's communication with animals has a great tatelnoe and cognitive significance. With such communication, complex mental contact and interaction between both partners is established, which can be

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Часть 1 1.2. The subject, tasks, methods and significance of zoopsychology
Часть 2 Fig. 1. Лабиринты: а — план первого лабиринта, применявшегося в

created: 2014-09-26
updated: 2022-01-10
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Comparative Psychology and Zoopsychology

Terms: Comparative Psychology and Zoopsychology