In e na ional Jou nal o Psychology and Psychological The apy 2005, Vol. 6, Nº 2, pp. 129-132
Da win li es: In oduc ion o he Se ie
on Animal Lea ning and Cogni ion
San iago Benjumea*1 Thomas R. Zen all2
1Uni e sidad de Se illa, España 2Uni e si y o Ken ucky, USA
*P epa a ion o his a icle and pa o he edi o ial p ocess o hese special se ie we e suppo ed by Minis e io de
Ciencia y Tecnología, G an BSO2003-02182 o San iago Benjumea. Co espondence conce ning his a icle should
be add essed o he i s au ho : Depa amen o de Psicología Expe imen al, Facul ad de Psicología, Uni e sidad
de Se illa, c/ Camilo José Cela s/n, 41018 Se illa, Spain. Email: [email p o ec ed]
This and he nex issue o he In e na ional Jou nal o Psychology and
Psychological The apy included a se ies o a icles conce ned wi h he empi ical and
heo e ical analysis o he beha io o nonhuman o ganisms. This ocus on animal
esea ch is in keeping wi h he objec i e o he Jou nal o publish monog aphs dedica ed
o basic and applied esea ch in a specialized ield o psychological in e es . An ea lie
se ies was dedica ed o he Rela ional F ame Theo y (Ba nes-Holmes, Luciano, & Ba nes-
Holmes, 2004). In he p esen and nex issue we ha e a emp ed o b ing oge he a
se ies o pape s ocusing on he join heme o animal lea ning and cogni ion.
The heo e ical de elopmen o psychological science has i s o igins in he wo k
o I an Pa lo (1927) and Edwa d Th ondike (1911), pionee s in he s udy o animal
beha io and i s unde lying mechanisms. The jus i ica ion o conduc ing psychological
s udies wi h animals es s on he e olu iona y p inciple o he biological con inui y o
psychological p ocesses be ween humans and o he animals (Da win, 1872).
I one aces he use o animals in psychological esea ch du ing he pas cen u y
(as i appea s in PsycIn o, he da abase o he Ame ican Psychological Associa ion),
ollowing he majo g ow h an animal esea ch ha occu ed in he 1960’s and 1970’s
he con ibu ion o he animals subjec s o psychological esea ch has s abilized a
abou 10% o e e enced esea ch (see Figu e 1). Thus, in con as o he commonly
held belie o i s decline, i appea s ha he beha io and cogni i e capaci y o animals
con inues o be an impo an ocus o in e es in psychology. Fu he mo e, as can be
seen om he esea ch p esen ed in hese special issues, he e appea s o be a g ow h
in in e es in animal esea ch in Spanish psychology in he pas 20 yea s. Based in pa
on he es ablishmen o he Spanish Socie y o Compa a i e Psychology, one o he i s
psychological scien i ic socie ies o ou coun y, he p oduc i i y o esea che s dedica ed
o animal esea ch has g own exponen ially in bo h quali y and numbe o con ibu ions
and in he in e na ional publica ion o hei esea ch. In Sep embe o his yea , we will
celeb a e he XVIII (unin e up ed) annual mee ing o ha Socie y, a clea indica ion
o ha g ow h.
130
© In e n. Jou . Psych. Psychol. The .
BENJUMEA AND ZENTALL
Ga cía Hoz (2006), opens he i s o ou special issues wi h a heo e ical piece
abou he na u e o wha animals lea n in Pa lo ian condi ioning. The au ho con as s
wo app oaches: a signal iew and a causal iew. He no es ha many de ine Pa lo ian
condi ioning as a mechanism ha cap u es o de ec s he causal ex u e o he en i onmen ,
ha i esul s in an in e nalized causal ela ionship, and ha i allows he animal o keep
ack o he causal s uc u e o i s wo ld. These ha e become popula depic ions o
Pa lo ian condi ioning despi e he ac ha i is pa en ly ob ious ha mos (i no all)
expe imen al ope a ions do no in ac in ol e causal ela ionships be ween s imuli in
he s ic sense o he concep . This is a simple, bu undamen al concep ual cla i ica ion
and his pape exposes i in an insigh ul manne .
The a icle by Zen all (2006) p esen s a e iew o some me hodological p oblems
ha appea when animals acqui e asks in ol ing empo al disc imina ions. The au ho
e iews ce ain anomalous da a om he mos s udied expe imen al pa adigms in he
s udy o animal iming: he peak p ocedu e and he condi ional disc imina ion o s imuli
o di e en du a ion. Bo h p ocedu es ha e p oduced esul s ha ha e been a ibu ed
o aul y memo y by he animals. Howe e , Zen all p oposes ha he esul s can be
mo e pa simoniously explained as expe imen al a i ac s ha esul in an ambigui y o
ins uc ions o he animal. When hese a i ac s a e emo ed a clea e iew o animal
iming can be ound.
Papini, Wood, Daniel and No is (2006) p esen an in e es ing heo e ical a icle
in which hey de end he exis ence o a na ow ela ionship among he psychological,
physiological and neu al mechanisms o physical pain and psychological ea , de ined
by he loss o ewa d o by p ima y us a ion.
Finally, his i s se o heo e ical a icles ends wi h he wo k o Rosas, Callejas
Aguile a, Ramos Ál a ez, and Abad (2006) who e iew he e ec s o a change o
con ex on ex inc ion. The au ho s explain hese and o he simila phenomena in e ms
o he a en ional heo y o con ex ual p ocessing, o iginally de eloped by Ma k Bou on.
A se o empi ical pape s ollows his se o heo e ical a icles. This sec ion
begins wi h wo in e es ing a icles on cogni i e esea ch wi h p ima es. The i s by
Figu e 1. Pe cen age o e e ences wi h he wo d “animal” in he popula ion ield on
he Psycin o da abase om 1900 o 2006.
Pe cen age o Resea ch
wi h Animal Subjec
s
DECADES
1900
1910
1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
5
0
15
10
© In e n. Jou . Psych. Psychol. The .
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIE 131
By ne and Tanne (2006) in ol es ges u al imi a ion in a zoo-housed, emale wes e n
lowland go illa (Go illa g. go illa). They conclude ha ges u al imi a ion in g ea apes
is based on acili a ion o a e s in hei ex ensi e and o en idiosync a ic ges u al
epe oi e (e.g. by mi o neu ons), a he han on acqui ing no el s by imi a ion. The
second a icle by Swa z and Himmanen (2006) in es iga es ecogni ion memo y in
o angu ans. Using a echnique in which í ems om di e en acqui ed lis s o pic u es
a e combined, hey epo ha he e a e indi idual di e ences he use o se ial o de
in o ma ion by hese animals.
The nex wo a icles deal wi h he implica ions o lea ning mechanisms o
a ious pha macological in e en ions. The a icle by Maldonado, Cándido, Mo ales
and To es (2006) p esen s expe imen al esul s ha demons a e ha posi i e beha iou al
con as in a one-way a oidance ask can be elimina ed by he use o anxioly ic d ugs
such as diazepam. The au ho s discuss hese esul s in e ms o opponen p ocess
heo y. In he second a icle, esea ch p esen ed by G ancha, C espo, Ama e and Flo es
(2006), indica es ha di e en ial e ec s o amphe amine on schedule induced polidip-
sia depend on di e ences in he animal’s a e o liquid consump ion. This esul sugges s
he exis ence o di e ences in he dopamine gic unc ioning o animals ha d ink mo e
o less.
The las a icle by Cano, Gu ié ez and Pellón (2006) p esen s a ela i ely new
app oach o he p oblem o ano exia. I a ibu es he p oblem o excessi e induced
ac i i y ha esul s in he loss o appe i e.
Finally we wan o hank he diligence shown by all o he au ho s who espon-
ded o ou in i a ion. We hoped ha hei con ibu ion will se e o inc ease heo e ical
discussion and in e es in he opic o Animal Lea ning and Cogni ion.
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