THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN COMPARATIVE 

 PSYCHOLOGY 



By C. J. WARDEN 



Animal Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Columbia University 



FROM the very earliest times 

 man has interested himself in 

 the life and behavior of infra- 

 human organisms . Among the 

 ancients, Aristotle (384-3ZZ B.C.) was the 

 first to attempt a systematic account of 

 plant and animal behavior and it is signi- 

 ficant that he included in his natural 

 history description the psychological as- 

 pects of the organism. In his De Anima, 

 Historia Animalium- and related writings 

 he has brought together the results of his 

 own extensive observations supplemented 

 with the winnowings of the animal lore 

 of earlier times. Aristotle very justly 

 deserves to be considered the father of 

 comparative psychology, as well as the 

 founder of the other biological sciences 

 and of natural history in general. His 

 emphasis upon observation and the induc- 

 tive method and his tacit adoption of a 

 broadly comparative viewpoint mark his 

 work as monumental in the early history 

 of natural science. His conception of the 

 organism was vitalistic in agreement with 

 his general philosophical position, and 

 his interpretations of behavior were tele- 

 ological and often naively anthropo- 

 morphic. His work was marred also by 

 an extensive use of anecdotal material to 

 supplement original observation. Never- 

 theless, his contribution to the general 

 development of biology and of compara- 

 tive psychology was hardly equalled by 

 any other writer previous to Darwin. 

 The interest in natural history rapidly 



declined after Aristotle. Later Greek and 

 Roman writers turned from the study of i 

 nature to metaphysical and ethical specu- 

 lation in the main, while a few like 

 Pliny (2.3-79 A.D.) and Plutarch (c. 46- 

 ixo A.D.) became mere compilers of J 

 anecdotes illustrating the sagacity of the 

 higher animals. During the early cen- 

 turies of the Christian era the normal 

 interest of mankind in natural science was 

 displaced to a large extent by religious 

 activities and theological speculation. 

 Pliny was widely read, but the biological 

 and psychological writings of Aristotle 

 were generally unknown, ignored, or even 

 proscribed in Christian lands. 



The revival of the natural history 

 writings of Aristotle in Christendom 

 about the middle of the thirteenth century 

 marked the beginning of an important 

 advance in the field of biology. This 

 came about very largely through the 

 influence of Albertus Magnus, Thomas 

 Aquinas, and such contemporary encyclo- 

 pedists as Vincent of Beauvais, Bartholo- 

 mew Anglicus and Thomas of Cantimpre. 

 Unfortunately it was the body of facts 

 contained in the writings of Aristotle 

 rather than the scientific spirit of the 

 Stagirite that was revived at this time. 

 His works on natural history and psychol- 

 ogy, interpreted by orthodox scholars, 

 became a new source of authority instead 

 of an inspiration to further observation of 

 nature. The major interest seems to have 

 centered around the problem of the essen- 



