50 ZOOPSYHOLOGIYA

Zoopsychology (Z.) (from the Greek. Zoon - "animal", psyche - "soul", logos - "teaching") - the science that studies the psyche of animals, manifestations and patterns of mental reflection at this level. Zoopsychology explores the development of mental processes at the stage of ontogenesis, the origin and development of the psyche in the process of evolution, as well as the biological prerequisites and the previous history of the emergence of human consciousness. The origin of scientific sc. happened at the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX centuries. and associated with the names of J. L. Buffon and J. B. Lamarck, later Charles Darwin studied the mental activity of animals. In Russia, the founders of this direction were V. A. Wagner and K. F. Rulje. They are in the XIX – XX centuries. marked the beginning of the materialistic evolutionary direction in the west. This direction was further developed in the works of zoopsychologists, who opposed antromorphic ideas. At the same time, the psyche of animals was studied in dialectic unity with their external motor activity, thanks to which all vital links with the environment are established. The primary and leading development of the psyche occurs in the process of ontogenesis and phylogenesis. In the process of ontogenesis, that is, individual development, the behavior of animals is formed together with the processes of learning. Learning in animals is the acquisition and accumulation of individual experience, as well as the improvement and modification of the instinctive component of mental activity in certain habitats. The instinctive behavior of animals does not need to be repeated, persists without systematic reinforcement, and is distinguished by resistance. In the process of phylogenesis, the formation of congenital, hereditarily fixed for all representatives of the type of behavior components, which form the basis of life activity. Z. considers the complication of life, leading to intensification, improvement and enrichment of the motor activity of the animal. A certain study of the mental activity of an animal, the study of their perceptual processes, orienting-exploratory reactions, as well as skills, emotions, memory, intelligence, etc., is carried out on the basis of an objective analysis of the structure of animal behavioral responses and requires a general account of the environmental characteristics of the animal species studied.

The mental activity of animals differs from the human in that it is completely determined by biological factors. This is the connection of Z. with ethology and other biological sciences.

The achievements of modern Z. are especially significant in studies conducted to study the mental regulation of the behavior of higher mammals.