Ask Not What's Inside the Head, but what the Head's Inside of

Abstract

Under the influence of behaviorism, much of comparative psychology became what could be characterized as "animal psychology."Evolution theory was not taken seriously enough, and "Cardboard Darwinism" passed for serious theoretical discussion.Evolution was believed to be the result of selective, environmental forces that act upon passive organisms.Under the influence of reductionism, the comparative psy- chology of the brain became what could be characterized as "the psy- chology of the hypothalamus."Again, evolution theory was understood simplistically, as a gradual, incremental process-a matter of degree.The article by Prato Previde, Colombetti, Poli and Spada is part of a trend away from behaviorism and reductionism, toward a cognitive ap- proach.The authors mention two related benefits of this trend: The introduction of a cognitive approach into comparative psychology would result in a fuller understanding of animals as active organisms with genuine reflective capacities; and, by the same token, the introduction of an evolutionary, or comparative, approach into the cognitive sciences would result in a more ecologically valid understanding of cognition "which is still lacking"(Prato Previde et al., this issue).The authors assure us, though, that studying the reflective capacities of animals need not "imply a straightforward transfer to animals of models of human thought."Unfortunately, I feel that there are still some serious concerns about the application of "cognitivism" to comparative psychology.My first concern is the impression that cognitivism is the only alternative to behaviorism.It isn't.Comparative psychologists interested in

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