Ethological changes. Ethology. Human ethology. Man and his essence. Natural scientific bias of human ethology

Ethology

(from the Greek ethos - habit, character, disposition, manner of behavior and logos - teaching) - a scientific discipline that studies animals from a general biological perspective and explores its four main aspects:

1) mechanisms;

2) biological functions;

4) evolution.

E. focuses on species-specific (characteristic of a given animal species) behavior in natural habitats. The founders of E. are the zoologists K. Lorenz and N. Tinbergen. The development is divided into the classical period (mid-30s - mid-50s) and the modern stage (from the late 50s). In E., a morphological approach to behavior is used, in which behavior in many respects is studied by analogy with how morphology studies the structure of the body. According to Lorenz, the basis of species-specific behavior is made up of instinctive movements (see,) or complexes of fixed actions (CFA), the form of which is innate, genetically fixed. Comparative studies of behavior in different animal species formed the basis for the ethological study of the evolution of behavior. Lorenz proposed a model of instinctive behavior based on the hypothesis of physiological mechanisms of a non-reflex nature (see). The basic concepts of this model, as well as Lorenz's hypothesis about the initial coordination of behavior at the level of the central nervous system - all this largely determined the direction of E.'s research, which sought to confirm, correct or refute this model. Lorenz also formulated the concept of imprinting. Tinbergen created a model of the hierarchical organization of instinctive behavior based on Lorenz's concept.

In the mid-50s. classical E. was sharply criticized by behaviorist-oriented researchers of behavior (see), who denied the existence of innate, genetically fixed behavior and argued that despite the undoubted influence of heredity, almost all animal behavior is formed under the influence of the external environment and learning. This criticism has had a serious impact on the development of ethology at the present stage. Gradually between E. and American comparative psychology Close contacts and an active exchange of ideas emerged. In modern economics, the classical concept has undergone significant revision, modification, and complexity. Ethologists present all species-specific behavior in the form of a spectrum, on one end of which there is strictly stereotypical behavior of the QFD type, and on the other - variable behavior associated with learning. Although there has been a tendency in economics to sharply criticize and even reject a number of ideas and concepts related to the classical theory of behavior, no other general theory has emerged to replace the classical one, and since the 80s, at a new level of knowledge, it has begun again growing interest in classical ideas, which are being rethought and improved.

Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: “PHOENIX”. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .

Ethology

The science of animal behavior, the “biology of behavior,” the general biological foundations and patterns of animal behavior. The concept and basic principles of it were formulated in 1895 by L. Dollo. Considers the relationship between innate instinctive behavior and environmental influences. One of the authoritative directions of modern biology extends its principles to humans; Research by ethologists is also directly interesting for zoopsychology (sometimes even considered as a variant of zoopsychology). Together with animal psychology, ethology tries to understand how the innate mechanisms that guide the emergence and development of behavior are complemented by the influence of the environment with which they interact. According to her views, only by increasingly deepening knowledge about lower organisms can we better understand the basics of behavior and its evolution in the animal kingdom. The tasks of ethology include:

1 ) study of the phylogenetic and ontogenetic development of animal behavior;

2 ) identifying the significance of behavior as a factor in their evolution;

3 ) identifying the significance of behavior as a factor in their individual and population adaptation.

The main attention is paid to species-typical (instinctive) components of behavior. Ethological analysis is based on the study by biological methods of an integral behavioral act. Species-typical poses and movements are described in the form of “ethograms” - systematized “catalogs” of motor activity of species; through observations and experiments, the functional significance of these components is established, and a quantitative and qualitative analysis of external and internal factors of behavior is performed. Particular attention is paid to the biological (ecological) mechanisms of behavioral acts. The connections between species and other animal taxa based on behavioral characteristics are clarified. Ethology also studies deviations in animal behavior from the norm in extreme situations. Its achievements are used in livestock farming and other sectors of the national economy, as well as in the development of the scientific basis for keeping animals in captivity ( cm.; ). Over the past decades, the share of research in one of the branches of ethology - human ethology - has increased. Its purpose is to illuminate the biological foundations of human nature. One of the ways to achieve the goal is to systematically collect data on the ways of expressing emotions, feelings and various social interactions among representatives of different cultures. It is argued that in all cases there are certain “universal” manifestations for humanity ( cm. anthropomorphism).

Dictionary of a practical psychologist. - M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998.

ETHOLOGY

(English) ethology; from Greek ethos- place of life, way of life) - the science of biological foundations and patterns behavior animals. The main attention is paid to species-typical (genetically fixed) forms of behavior characteristic of all representatives of a given species (instinctive behavior). However, since forms of behavior reflecting the accumulated in the process phylogeny species experience are constantly intertwined with individually variable forms of behavior, ethological research extends to this area.

The basis of ethological analysis (causal, functional and phylogenetic) is a holistic behavioral act (the so-called behavioral syndrome), reflecting a high degree of integration of life processes and the influence of environmental factors. E. is closely related to zoopsychology, physiology higher nervous activity And neurophysiology. Animal behavior is classified and analyzed by ethologists on functional grounds, for example: rest, comfortable behavior (cleansing the body, bathing in water and sand, stretching, etc.), (locomotion) and orientation, play and manipulation activity, nutrition, protection and attack, reproduction, migratory activity, etc. A large place in ethological research is occupied by the study of territorial and group behavior of animals (see. ).

Large psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .

Ethology

In the literal sense, it is a biological study of behavior. Ethologists spend considerable effort studying animals in their wild (natural) state. As a result of long-term observation of various species, ethologists can compile a detailed description, or ethogram, of the behavior patterns of a particular species of animal. For example, observing the behavior of male sticklebacks during mating reveals stereotypical actions and movements characteristic of all males of a given species. They collect algae and glue them together to form a nest. If another male approaches, they adopt a special "head down" shoza, which is a demonstration of threat to the rival. When the female approaches, the male leads her to the nest in a “zigzag” dance. When she lays eggs, he accompanies her in the nest and fertilizes the eggs, and then supplies them with oxygen by vigorous movements of his fins. Ethologist Niko Ginbergen believes that when studying animal behavior, one should proceed from four main questions:

Development: Does an animal's behavior change over the course of its life?

Reasons: is behavior the result of internal states or external stimuli?

Functions: why does the animal behave this way? What benefits does it joke about?

Evolution: What are the evolutionary reasons for behavior?

Early ethological theories about animal behavior were based on careful observations and intuitions rather than on the experimental evidence usually associated with scientific psychophysics.

Although the ethological study of animal behavior can be found in most psychology textbooks and reference books under the heading "Comparative Psychology", there are significant differences between the two disciplines. Ethologists are interested in many species of animals and the behavioral patterns that characterize those species. Comparative psychologists, on the other hand, study a limited number of species and proceed from the premise that general laws of behavior can be derived that apply to all species. The study of specific behavior is a very important feature of ethology. Stereotypical patterns of behavior that exist in different animals have led ethologists to believe that such behavior is innate and instinctive. The controversy between ethology and comparative psychology led to important changes in the scientific views of both disciplines. Psychologists began to recognize the role of evolutionary influences on learning, and ethologists realized the value of a balanced experimental approach in understanding animal behavior.

The rapid development of ethology in the last 20 years has been associated with renewed interest in the function of behavior (i.e., why animals behave as they do). Meanwhile, sociobiology was moving away from a focus on behavioral traits and attempting to explain how natural selection could influence the causes of behavior. This has led to a number of controversial statements about the applicability of evolutionary ideas to human beings, especially to ideas about human nature (see).

Psychology. AND I. Dictionary reference / Transl. from English K. S. Tkachenko. - M.: FAIR PRESS. Mike Cordwell. 2000.

Synonyms:

See what “ethology” is in other dictionaries:

ETHOLOGY- (from the Greek “ethos” custom, disposition, character) the science of animal behavior in nature. habitat. In France, the term “ethology” has been used to refer to the science of animal behavior since the beginning of the century. floor. 18th century; however, to designate a special... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

Ethology- Ethology ♦ Éthologie The objective study of the morals and behavior of both humans and animals, which does not include any normative concepts. It is precisely the latter that ethology differs from ethics, just like the objectivity of biology (for which life is a fact... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary

Ethology- (from the Greek ethos character, disposition and...logy), biological science of animal behavior. The creator of ecology, E. Haeckel, used the term “ethology” as a synonym for ecology. The section “Ecological ethology” occupies a significant place in ethology... ... Ecological dictionary

ETHOLOGY Modern encyclopedia

ETHOLOGY- (from the Greek ethos custom, moral character and...logy), biological science that studies the behavior of animals in natural conditions; pays primary attention to the analysis of genetically determined (hereditary, instinctive) components... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Ethology- (from the Greek ethos custom, disposition, character and...logy), biological science that studies the behavior of animals in natural conditions; pays mainly attention to the analysis of genetically determined (hereditary, instinctive) components... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

ETHOLOGY- (Greek). A study of the individual characters, morals and customs of a famous people. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. ethology (gr. ethos character, disposition + ...logy) one of the directions in the study... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

ETHOLOGY- ETOLOGY, a discipline devoted to the study of animal behavior, especially in their natural habitat. The first principles of ethology were formulated in the 1920s. Konrad LORENZ and Nicholas TINBERGEN. Ethologists study the natural patterns of behavior inherent in... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

ETHOLOGY- ETOLOGY, and, g. The science of animal behavior in natural environments. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Science, which emerged at the intersection of biology, sociology, ecology and psychology, in the modern flow of information has acquired a lot of materials of dubious content.

What is the problem?

Ethology is the science that studies, through observation, the behavior of animals in their natural habitat. This is exactly how the founders positioned it. The current state of this science, differentiated in different directions, represents a wide range of possible definitions and mechanisms of application.

If children from school age were taught the basics of ethology, this would certainly become a certain guideline in their actions. After all, understanding the biological motives of human behavior as a biological species indicates that we are not as far as it seems from our smaller brothers, and allows us to have a completely different attitude towards social manifestations in modern society.

Origins

The well-known ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his works “The History of Animals,” noted the differences in the morals of animals depending on their tameness, cowardice or meekness, and most importantly, intelligence or lack thereof. Can he be considered the progenitor of the science that studies the behavior of animals and people?

The official founder of the science is the Australian zoologist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1995). In the 30s of the 20th century, in his works, he generalized the system of previous knowledge of behaviorists and zoopsychologists and introduced the term ethology into the international scientific environment, understanding it as the science of the biology of animal behavior, connecting the physiological component of behavior, the development of behavior in the ontogenesis of the individual, interspecific (comparative ) behavior patterns and adaptive behavior. For his discoveries in the study of patterns in individual and group behavior of animals and in their internal motivation, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1973.

And at the beginning of the last century, Konrad Lorenz did not find understanding among biologists involved in all areas of zoology.

The scientific environment at the stage of development of ethology

At the beginning of the 20th century, revolution after revolution took place in the natural sciences. Charles Darwin, with his theory of the origin of species and natural selection as a mechanism of evolution, laid the foundation for the development of a whole range of sciences, such as comparative embryology, pathological and comparative anatomy, paleontology and archaeology.

Natural knowledge in these areas stimulated the direction of thought of zoologists, evolutionists, cytologists, geneticists, and neurophysiologists. There have been debates in the scientific community about the relationship between the psyche and consciousness. The schools of classical behaviorism and neobehaviorism, classical zoopsychology, and Gestalt psychology developed their own directions in the study of instinctive behavior, the theory of stimuli and signs. Human psychology and the study of the neurophysiology of the brain have led scientific thought to the acceptance of the biological component of the species Homo sapiens.

Basic conceptual basis

Modern popularization of knowledge on this issue occurs thanks to the media and in the vein of popular science knowledge, and much less scientific knowledge. This happened because it is impossible to read scientific literature in the field of animal or human ethology without knowledge of specific terminology. And to understand the terminology, you need at least a minimum of theoretical knowledge. Let us introduce only some general concepts necessary to form the reader’s idea of ​​the modern concept of the provisions of traditional ethology.

Ethology is a scientific discipline that deals with the study of patterns (models) of general biological behavior of animals.

The name of the discipline comes from the Greek ethos - “character, disposition, habit, behavior”, logos - “teaching”.

Traditional ethology is the science of all manifestations of behavior of all types of living organisms. In any branch of ethology, four main aspects of study are considered: the mechanisms of behavior, the biological component and functions of behavior, the ontogenesis of behavior and the evolutionary development of behavioral reactions. The main determining factor is study in natural conditions.

Fields of ethology

Human ethology has become a separate field - the science of studying man as a representative of a biological species. She studies the formation of ontogenetic and species characteristics, the evolution of human behavior in the aspect of historical development.

There are a sufficient number of private branches of this science depending on the object that is chosen as the subject of ethology. In this vein, it is worth highlighting ornithoethology (the study of bird behavior) and cognitive (the subject of study is the abilities of cognition and learning). Anthropogenic ethology is the science of animal behavior in artificial habitats. Molecular ethology studies the influence of a specific gene on behavioral responses. From general ethology, sociobiology emerged as a separate scientific discipline; it examines behavior in groups and hierarchical stereotypes.

Provisions: traditional ethology

The definition of behavioral science has undergone refinements and additions. The concept was finally formed in 1962, when the science of animal behavior in a general biological understanding appeared. Studying a complete overview of the fundamental principles of science is unlikely to be possible. Let’s focus on those that will give a general understanding and give confidence when reading specialized literature.

Species-specific (characteristic of representatives of the entire species), innate (ready-made models that do not require training), stereotypical (templates, performed in an unchanged order and in an unchanged form) units of behavior in ethology are called fixed complexes of actions.

Nonspecific, individual and labile units of behavior of individuals are called dynamic stereotypes. This type of reaction is characteristic exclusively of organisms with a developed nervous system and learning abilities.

By learning, ethologists understand a modification of behavior that occurs as a result of an individual’s personal experience and leads to the appearance of completely new reactions, a change in the stimulus for habitual reactions, a change in the form or probability of a response to a stimulus. The general biological laws of learning are as follows:

• Repetition increases when a response is associated with a reward and decreases when no reward follows the response (Thorndike's law of effect).
• The desire to obtain a stimulus with the least amount of effort (Skinner's principle).
• Reinforcements are always insufficient in relation to overcoming innate tendencies and replacing them with learned stereotypes (Breland's law).
• Optimal motivation ensures successful learning. Boundary values ​​of motivation lead to a decrease in learning success (Yerkes-Dodson law).

Learning as potential behavior is one of the fundamental concepts. Human ethology does not accept Thorndike's law, although the entire Criminal Code would seem to confirm the effectiveness of this law in human behavior.

Four main questions

Whatever particular area of ​​ethology we consider, in the discipline it is studied in response to four questions. They were formulated by the Dutch ornithologist, student and colleague of Konrad Lorenz, who shared the Nobel Prize with him, Nicholas Timbergen (1907-1988). And although not all ethologists agree on the methods for answering these questions, there is an enviable unity regarding the questions themselves.

1. What stimulates a particular behavior pattern is its cause.
2. The degree of involvement of animal structures and functions.
3. Variability and boundaries of behavior change in the process of ontogenesis.
4. To what extent does the behavioral response meet adaptive needs?

Study of man

Man has always been interested in studying his own kind. Hippocrates' classification of people's characters (choleric - phlegmatic) is still relevant today.

The flourishing of interest in man as an object of study is inextricably linked with Sigmund Freud; the result of the work of his conscious and subconscious psychoanalysis was the catchphrase: “I discovered that man is an animal.” Linnaeus and Darwin, Whitman and Craig, Konrad Lorenz with his long-winded works “Aggression: the So-Called Evil” and “The Eight Deadly Sins of Civilized Humanity” were unable to provide a sufficiently convincing evidence base for Freud’s words.

As a result, two directions were formed in human ethology: the humanities and the natural sciences.

Natural scientific bias of human ethology

In the field of knowledge given to the world by Lorenz and Timbergen, Charles Darwin's cousin, anthropologist, psychologist and aristocrat Sir Francis Hamilton became a follower of the behaviorists. He actively studied the possibilities of inheriting moral qualities, talent and abilities. Among those who supported his idea of ​​finding mechanisms for the inheritance of personality traits were Bernard Shaw, Herbert Wells, Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt.

This direction of ethology took shape in eugenics (translated from Greek as “the birth of the best”) - a theory about the hereditary health of a person and the possibilities of its improvement. Positive eugenics (studying factors influencing the improvement of racial characteristics) very quickly gave way to negative eugenics, the purpose of which was to breed eugenically valuable populations. This concept came in handy for the autocratic regime of Germany, which discredited for a long time not only eugenics itself, but also the very principle of the natural scientific approach.

Humanitarian ethology of man

The humanists did not seek to change anything. Humanitarian ethology is an area where descriptive and classification methods of studying the characteristics of human behavior predominate, without seeking to explain the causes and mechanisms of occurrence. There are a huge number of schools, as well as different classifications, in this direction. For example, the classification of personalities according to Leonhard or Jung. But all humanitarian ethologists are unanimous in the following:

• In human behavior, the animal part is insignificant.
• A person’s character is completely shaped by the environment (blank slate concept).

Modern concept of human ethology

The modern concept of human ethology is defined as the biology of behavior, formed in onto- and phylogenesis and leading to a specific behavioral strategy. The objects of research are traditional groups in comparison with neo-industrial culture.

Sociobiology was formed at the intersection of many sciences. She studies behavior as a set of advantageous qualities, formed by evolution.

There are two schools of human ethology: European and American. The Austro-German school (I. Eibl - Eisfeld, F. Sutter) are followers of K. Lorenz. The Dutch and British schools are followers of N. Timbergen (F. Schiefenhoevel). The American school borrows methods from the evolutionary approach and is focused on sociobiology.

In Russia, the school of ethology is developing under the leadership of Doctor of Historical Sciences M. L. Butovskaya and Professor V. R. Dolnik, Doctor of Biological Sciences Z. A. Zorin, ornithologist and ethologist V. S. Friedman. The promoter of the teaching was the editor-in-chief of the project “Internet Association of Holiday Camps” K. Efremov.

Modern ethology is a set of disciplines designed to help a person understand the origins and motives of his behavior. It helps you find the key to knowing yourself. Animal ethology is intended to help us in agricultural activities. Numerous publications and examples of popular ethology are designed to draw our attention to the unity of all life on the planet and the place of humanity in the system of the organic world.

from Greek ethos - custom, disposition, character. ? the science of animal behavior in nature. habitat. In France, the term “ethology” has been used to refer to the science of animal behavior since the beginning of the century. floor. 18th century; however, it began to be used to denote a special scientific direction from the 30s. 20th century (In English-speaking countries, this term was used as a synonym for the concept of “characterology” until the first half of the 20th century.) The foundations of E. were laid by the research of A. von Pernau (early 18th century), Darwin (19th century), and J. von Uexküll (late 19th - early 20th centuries). Darwin's theory of evolution had a particularly great influence on E., which became for this science a general paradigm for the analysis of all behavior. manifestations, incl. including human behavior as one of the species of higher mammals. Diff. forms of behavior are considered in E. from the point of view. their evolution. values, i.e. their functional value for nature. selection and conservation of the species. Directly E.'s predecessors were O. Heinroth, B. Altum (Germany), C. Whitman, W. Craig (USA), J. Huxley (England), whose research had a significant impact. influence on the subsequent development of E. and made an important contribution to the transformation of the study of animal behavior into an independent field. scientific discipline. The birth of modern E. is associated with the names of the Austrians. zoologist Lorenz (1910-86) and Goll. biologist N. Tinbergen (1907-88). Against the backdrop of the dominance of behaviorist orientation and laboratory methods for studying behavior, focused on learning problems, Lorenz in the 30-40s. put forward the idea that animal behavior should be studied in nature. environment, in conditions of unrestricted freedom, paying equal attention to both its innate and acquired elements. (In laboratory conditions, the “perfect pattern of behavior” that develops under the influence of factors of variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection is destroyed, which inevitably leads to erroneous conclusions.) Lorenz himself developed an original method for studying the behavior of animals in conditions of semi-captivity. From ser. century, ethology received intensive development; published by specialists. ethological magazines “Behaviour:”, “Ibis”, “Journal fur Ornithologie”, “Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie”. In 1973 for work in the field of E.K. Lorenz, Tinbergen and M. Frisch were awarded the Nobel Prize. Basic E.'s task is to give a phylogenetic. and physiol. explanation of the functional relationships between all factors acting in behavior. A wide range of questions are associated with this task: what is the nature of instinct; the extent to which behavior is determined by instincts and acquired reactions (learned both in the learning process and from personal experience); how congenital and acquired elements of behavior relate and interact; how animals communicate with each other; How does the behavior of animals change in the organic process? evolution, etc. Particular attention is paid to the social behavior of animals (territorial behavior, rituals and ritualization processes, communication mechanisms, mechanisms for containing intraspecific aggression, etc.) and the study of the evolution of social organization. On Tue. floor. 20th century “Human beings” became an important section of Estonian literature. E.”, studying with etol. positions of human behavior. Basic E. methods - observation of animal behavior in nature. conditions (both from the outside and in personal contact) and its description, formulation of hypotheses based on observation, repeated observation and experiments to test hypotheses. Observations use photography and filming. Specific for E. methodol. The procedure is the compilation of species “ethograms” (“catalogs of behavior” of different species) and their subsequent comparison in order to draw conclusions about the evolution of various species. forms of behavior. This procedure is used, in particular, to study the evolution of social organization: on the basis of identified similarities and differences, species are sorted into “taxa”, and then social systems are compared (both as a whole and their individual elements), in the course of Rogo, on the basis of discovered homologies and convergences, evolutions are identified. trends. In general, the essence is etol. approach is to compare in detail. description of various forms of behavior, clarifying their adaptive significance, determining the role of congenital and acquired elements in these forms of behavior, as well as identifying the significance of these forms of behavior for the conservation and evolution of the species. During this Research has found that any behavior is a complex combination of instinctive and acquired elements. Instincts are internally complex forms of behavior, consisting of 3 elements: “fixed patterns of action” (which are activated by innate trigger mechanisms, are not directly related to external stimuli and are carried out on their own when sufficient energy is accumulated), reflexes (stereotypical actions caused by external stimuli) and “taxis” (actions directed by specific sources of stimulation). In the social reactions of societies. “releasers” play an important role in animals, i.e. species-specific sign stimuli (auditory or visual signals, actions, structures, colors, chemical signals, smells), which trigger behavior that functionally supports various forms of social cooperation (interaction of sexual partners, family and group life, fights between individuals, etc.). One of the important types of releasers is the so-called. “intentional actions” that signal intentions. Interaction according to the “releaser-reaction” scheme is a rather complex form of sign behavior. Unlike sign-symbolic. behavior in humans and animals, both the signals themselves and the reactions to them are innate. (In some highly developed species, this scheme is sometimes triggered only under the condition of personal acquaintance between individuals.) Ethologists believe that an important role in evolution. The mechanism of action displacement played a role in the development of behavior. This mechanism is of particular importance when behavior is motivated simultaneously by several different factors. impulses (for example, the impulse to attack and the impulse to escape), and the behavior programs dictated by them cannot be realized simultaneously. Thanks to the mechanism of action displacement, new forms of behavior are formed, providing typical ways to resolve the conflict between motives. In particular, according to Lorenz, in the process of evolution, displaced actions became the material for the formation of various. marriage and threatening ceremonies. In many animals, from fish to higher mammals, biased actions are an integral component of behavior in intraspecific fights and ceremonies preceding mating. In this situation, one action is used to designate another, which, if not replaced, would be dangerous; for example, among stickleback fish (males), intimidation ceremonies use actions characteristic of building a nest, feeding, etc., which replace open physical activity. attack. The mechanism of action displacement underlies the process of ritualization, during which signal movements acquire sign functions. The process of ritualization and ritual ceremonies in animals is one of the important and most studied topics in E. Ritualization balances conflicting impulses in interactions between individuals that ensure the reproduction and social life of the species, and thereby perform a species-preserving function. (For example, ritualization neutralizes the instinct of attack in the interaction between a male and a female during the period of courtship and mating.) Most often, the process of ritualization manifests itself in animals in such forms of behavior as marriage ceremonies, fighting rituals, war dances, and greetings. In those animals that have developed weapons of attack in the course of evolution, ritualization plays an important role in restraining intraspecific aggression (crows, seagulls, herons, wolves, etc.): they have formed gestures (or poses) of submission that cause automatic cessation of physical aggression from a partner. During this Research has revealed that many behavioral phenomena, previously often considered uniquely human, appear in one form or another already at the lower stages of evolution. ladders: social organization and social hierarchy (complex social organizations of insects; the so-called “pecking order” in certain fish, birds, for example jackdaws, and mammals); complex forms of behavior aimed at maintaining and achieving prestige in the hierarchy (dogs and other higher animals); submission to the leader (wolves, dogs); infantile attachment to mother (jackals, dogs); “marriage”, already manifested in cichlid fish, in which the male and female are connected by marital ties for life; courtship; “love at first sight” (jackdaws, wild geese, whiskered tits, ducks; in jackdaws, for example, the marriage ceremony and the moment of physical intimacy are preceded by a long period of “engagement”); “monogamy” (geese); greetings; personal recognition and elements of behavioral orientation towards personal ties (daws); transmission of tradition (jackdaws, primates; eg, jackdaws do not have an innate instinct to recognize the enemy, and they learn to recognize the enemy from older members of the flock); play as behavior that is not limited to genetically endowed instincts, always containing an element of discovery and novelty and consisting in performing actions for their own sake (jackdaws, cats, otters); jokes (primates); the ability to deliberately deceive and simulate and the ability to recognize deception (dogs, anthropoids); psychosomatic diseases and inability to tolerate loneliness (great apes), etc. Lorenz believed that intelligence as the ability to rationalize. actions already appears in animals (for example, dogs), and hypothesized that its appearance is associated with the weakening of innate stereotypes (species-typical forms of behavior), which expands the possibilities of adaptation and “free invention” of new forms of behavior, especially in the expressive sphere, where in humans, innate forms of signaling behavior are supplanted by speech: “... the reduction in the role of instincts, the disappearance of rigid boundaries by which the behavior of most animals is determined, was a necessary prerequisite for the emergence of a special, purely human. freedom of action." With t.zr. ethologists, human behavior, for all its uniqueness, retains numerous. pre-human elements. behavior. If early etol. research was limited to the study of animal behavior, then from the end. 60s In the West, interest in human E. has increased. Many ethologists (Lorenz, Eibl-Eibesfeldt, M. von Cranach, etc.) switched to developing the problems of “human beings.” E." In the USA, a special direction in psychology has developed. anthropology, focusing on the theory and methods of E. (A. Bandura, R. Masters, I. Altman, R. Hind, P. Blurton Jones, P. Ekman, E. Bourguignon, etc.). Basic research method in ethyl. anthropology became participant observation; Usually the child develops in a cultural environment, transferring him from a pre-social to a social state. The most important topics are ethology and anthropology. research has become the relationship between cultural and natural in humans. behavior, behavior change in the process of socialization, ritual and ritualization processes, norm and pathology, territory. human behavior, mechanisms and features of nonverbal communication in sociocultural communities, the balance of solitude and communication in different social environments, cultural forms of manifestation of aggressiveness, fear, love and affection. Etol. anthropology develops in close contact with such disciplines as kinesics, proximics, sociobiology, communication studies, etc. Lit.: Eibl-Eibesfeldt I. The Enchanted Islands of the Galapagos. M., 1971; It's him. Public space and its social role // Cultures. 1983. No. 1; Ethnology in the USA and Canada. M., 1989; Belik A.A. Psychological anthropology. M., 1993; Lorenz K. Aggression. M., 1994; It's him. The Ring of King Solomon, 2nd ed. M., 1978; It's him. A man finds a friend. M., 1992; Tinbergen N. Social behavior of animals. M., 1993; Tinbergen N. The Study of Instinct. Oxf., 1955; Eibl-Eibesfeldt I. Ethology: the Biology of Behavior. N.Y., ect. 1970; Idem. Human Ethology. N.Y., 1989; Idem. Love and Hate: The Natural History of Behavior Patterns. N.Y., ect., 1972; Altman I. The Environment and Social Behavior: Privacy, Personal Space, Territory, Crowding. Monterey, 1975; Human Ethology. Camb.; P., 1979; Lorenz K. Behind the Mirror. L., 1977; Idem. Evolution and Modification of Behavior. Chi.; L., 1965. V.G. Nikolaev. Cultural studies of the twentieth century. Encyclopedia. M.1996

The scientific discipline that studies animal behavior was formed by the middle of the 20th century.

Before this, animal behavior was studied by specialists from at least three branches of biological science: zoology, physiology and psychology. Thanks to the efforts of specialists who used different concepts and methodologies when studying animals, the last century has so enriched our understanding of animal behavior that the need arose to form an independent section in the science of animals. However, defining animal behavior is still difficult. Everyone understands what we are talking about, but no one can find a laconic definition. This is explained by the fact that behavior includes locomotion and sleep, changes in body color and grooming, changes in the blood supply to organs, animal emotions, motionless rest, and much more. In fact, the behavior of animals is their life. And the definition of “life” is even more difficult to give.

The term "ethology" comes from the Greek "ethos", which means "nature", "habit" or "custom". Researchers have been using this term for a long time. However, its content changed many times and in the most radical way. Initially, the term “ethology” referred to philosophy and denoted the name of the science of human ethics. There was a period when an actor was called an ethologist. At a certain stage in the development of science, ethology was the name given to the branch of psychology that studies such a phenomenon as human character.

In biology, the term “ethology” was introduced only in the middle of the 19th century, initially to designate a scientific direction that studies the relationships of living beings with each other and the environment, i.e. at that time ethology was identified with the science that is today known as ecology. At the beginning of the last century, many researchers understood ethology as the study of the lifestyle and morals of animals. The terminological controversy did not subside until the middle of the 20th century, when K. Lorenz and N. Tinbergen agreed to use the term “ethology” to internationally designate a new scientific discipline, of which they became the founders. Since then, ethology has been understood as the biology of animal behavior, which includes four main areas of research - the physiology of behavior, the development of behavior in the process of ontogenesis, comparative (interspecific) aspects of behavior and adaptive functions of behavior.

Modern ethology (there is an equal sign between the concepts of “ethology” and “animal behavior”, although there are still specialists who speak out against the identification of these concepts) has all the signs of an independent science - its own subject of study, specific methods, established scientific schools, reproduction of scientific teaching staff, specialized periodicals and demand by the scientific community. Animal behavior and zoopsychology, on the one hand, is a theoretical discipline, and on the other hand, is directly related to the practice of animal husbandry. (By animal husbandry here we mean productive animal husbandry, breeding of animals for sport, ornamental animal husbandry, as well as human environmental actions in order to regulate the number of wild animals in natural biocenoses.)

At the end of the 1990s. A new academic discipline has appeared in the curricula of Russian agricultural higher educational institutions for training highly qualified personnel in the specialties “zootechnics”, “veterinary medicine” and “biology” - “Ethology with the basics of zoopsychology”. This is a logical step in the development of the educational process, since it reflects the natural course of the dialectics of cognition of an animal organism. Everyone who deals with animals (veterinarians, livestock breeders, pet lovers, naturalists) needs systematic knowledge about the normal behavior of healthy animals, the biological significance of behavior, and the mechanisms underlying this or that behavioral act. This book is addressed primarily to professional livestock workers. However, the author does not limit the subject of study to the behavior of productive animals. A great contribution to the development of ethology as an independent scientific and educational discipline was made by researchers who became classics of ethology (C. Darwin, K. Lorenz, N. Tinbergen, K. Frisch), who worked with wild animals in their natural habitat. Many postulates of modern ethology were formulated by them on the basis of studying the behavior of undomesticated animal species.

During the process of domestication, many ethological characteristics of animals were lost naturally or through targeted selection by humans. This applies to group behavior, obtaining food, reproduction of animals, and their aggressiveness. A deep understanding of the behavior of domestic animals is only possible by comparing their behavior with the behavior of their wild ancestors or close relatives. Therefore, the logic of the discipline does not allow the behavior of unproductive animals to be ignored in the manual intended for practical livestock workers.

On the other hand, fundamental issues of ethology and zoopsychology were studied on domestic, laboratory and tamed animals, as well as on humans (I. P. Pavlov and the theory of conditioned reflexes, N. N. Ladygina-Kots and the foundations of the mental activity of animals, A. N. Leontyev, K. E. Fabry and the fundamentals of zoopsychology, P. K. Anokhin and systemic mechanisms of regulation of human and animal behavior). Therefore, when presenting the material, the author used the results of studies that were carried out on humans and on different species of animals without taking into account their pragmatic significance and the degree of proximity to human life. Moreover, despite his zootechnical background, the author remained a supporter of biocentrism in the relationship between humans and animals and therefore does not consider himself entitled to give preference to animals based on the principle of their greater or lesser usefulness for humans in modern life.

In fairness, it must be admitted that in recent years the volume of ethological research on domestic and laboratory animals has increased manifold. This is explained by the fact that the basic stereotypes of animal behavior have been studied in detail. However, the area of ​​animal psychology of many behavioral manifestations remains unclear. In this part, a controlled experiment using modern technical means and domestic and/or laboratory animals is in demand and inevitable. Therefore, the book offered to the reader often focuses on the behavioral characteristics and psychology of different types of domestic animals.

Focusing the reader's attention on domestic animals is also justified by didactic considerations. The academic discipline “Ethology with the basics of zoopsychology” provides a structural and logical connection between theoretical disciplines (zoology, morphology, physiology, genetics, etc.) and technological special subjects (feeding, animal breeding, animal hygiene, veterinary medicine, fish farming, poultry farming, horse breeding, cynology and etc.) in the curricula of livestock-breeding universities.

Knowledge of ethology and zoopsychology allows a specialist to more objectively assess the needs of domestic animals in living space, nutrients and feed, as well as the social needs of animals. Ethology offers the specialist scientifically based techniques for managing (teaching) animals of various categories, including those potentially dangerous to humans (stud bulls, boars, stallions, vicious dogs, etc.) and herd animals (sheep, goats, cattle). Obviously, working with aggressive animals and managing a herd of hundreds of animals requires special training of personnel in the field of animal behavior and animal psychology.

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Origin of the name and history

Ethology was finally formed in the 30s of the 20th century on the basis of field zoology and evolutionary theory as the science of a comparative description of the behavior of an individual. The emergence of ethology is associated mainly with the works of Konrad Lorenz and Nicholas Tinbergen, although they themselves initially did not call themselves ethologists. The term then came to be used to distinguish natural animal scientists from comparative psychologists and behaviorists in the United States, who worked primarily analytically in laboratories. Modern ethology is interdisciplinary and has physiological, evolutionary components, the legacy of behaviorism.

Tinbergen's Four Questions

• adaptive function: How does a behavioral act affect an animal's ability to survive and produce offspring?
• reason: what influences trigger a behavioral act?
• development in ontogenesis: How does behavior change over the years, during individual development (ontogenesis), and what previous experiences are necessary for the behavior to manifest?
• evolutionary development: what are the differences and similarities of similar behavioral acts in related species, and how could these behavioral acts arise and develop during the process of phylogenesis?

Famous ethologists

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Literature

• Butovskaya M. L., Fainberg L. A. Ethology of primates (textbook). - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1992.
• Vagner V. A. Biological foundations of comparative psychology. T. 2: Instinct and reason. - 2005. - 347 p.
• Zorina Z. A., Poletaeva I. M. Fundamentals of ethology and genetics of behavior. - M: Moscow State University, 1999.
• Korytin S. A. Behavior and smell of predatory mammals. - Ed. 2nd. - M.: Publishing house "LKI", 2007. - 224 p.
• Korytin S. A. Trapper's lures. Controlling the behavior of animals with the help of appellants. - M.: Publishing house "LKI", 2007. - 288 p.
• Krushinsky L.V. Selected works. - M., 1991.
• Krushinsky L.V. Notes of a Moscow biologist. Mysteries of animal behavior. - M.: Languages ​​of Slavic culture, 2006. - 500 p.
• McFarland D.: Translated from English. - M.: Mir, 1988. - 520 p., ill. - ISBN 5-03-001230-3.
• Paevsky V. A. Feathered polygamists: marriages, infidelity and divorces in the world of birds. - M.; SPb.: Partnership scientific. ed. KMK, 2007. - 144 p.
• Filippova G. G. Animal psychology and comparative psychology: a textbook for universities. - 3rd ed., erased. - M.: Academy, 2007. - 543 p.
• Hind R. Animal behavior. - M., 1975.
• Dolnik V. R. Naughty child of the biosphere. Conversations about human behavior in the company of birds, animals and children. - St. Petersburg: CheRo-on-Neva; Petroglyph, 2004. - ISBN 5-88711-213-1.

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Excerpt characterizing Ethology

- Well, are you refusing Prince Andrei? - said Sonya.
“Oh, you don’t understand anything, don’t talk nonsense, just listen,” Natasha said with instant annoyance.
“No, I can’t believe it,” Sonya repeated. - I don't understand. How did you love one person for a whole year and suddenly... After all, you only saw him three times. Natasha, I don’t believe you, you’re being naughty. In three days, forget everything and so...
“Three days,” Natasha said. “It seems to me that I have loved him for a hundred years.” It seems to me that I have never loved anyone before him. You can't understand this. Sonya, wait, sit here. – Natasha hugged and kissed her.
“They told me that this happens and you heard correctly, but now I have only experienced this love.” It's not what it used to be. As soon as I saw him, I felt that he was my master, and I was his slave, and that I could not help but love him. Yes, slave! Whatever he tells me, I will do. You don't understand this. What should I do? What should I do, Sonya? - Natasha said with a happy and frightened face.
“But think about what you’re doing,” said Sonya, “I can’t leave it like that.” These secret letters... How could you let him do this? - she said with horror and disgust, which she could hardly hide.
“I told you,” Natasha answered, “that I have no will, how can you not understand this: I love him!”
“Then I won’t let this happen, I’ll tell you,” Sonya screamed with tears breaking through.
“What are you doing, for God’s sake... If you tell me, you are my enemy,” Natasha spoke. - You want my misfortune, you want us to be separated...
Seeing this fear of Natasha, Sonya cried tears of shame and pity for her friend.
- But what happened between you? – she asked. -What did he tell you? Why doesn't he go to the house?
Natasha did not answer her question.
“For God’s sake, Sonya, don’t tell anyone, don’t torture me,” Natasha begged. – You remember that you cannot interfere in such matters. I opened it for you...
– But why these secrets! Why doesn't he go to the house? – Sonya asked. - Why doesn’t he directly seek your hand? After all, Prince Andrei gave you complete freedom, if that’s the case; but I don't believe it. Natasha, have you thought about what secret reasons there could be?
Natasha looked at Sonya with surprised eyes. Apparently, this was the first time she had asked this question and she didn’t know how to answer it.
– I don’t know what the reasons are. But there are reasons!
Sonya sighed and shook her head in disbelief.
“If there were reasons...” she began. But Natasha, guessing her doubt, interrupted her in fear.
- Sonya, you can’t doubt him, you can’t, you can’t, do you understand? – she shouted.
– Does he love you?
- Does he love you? – Natasha repeated with a smile of regret about her friend’s lack of understanding. – You read the letter, did you see it?
- But what if he is an ignoble person?
– Is he!... an ignoble person? If only you knew! - Natasha said.
“If he is a noble man, then he must either declare his intention or stop seeing you; and if you don’t want to do this, then I will do it, I will write to him, I will tell dad,” Sonya said decisively.
- Yes, I can’t live without him! – Natasha screamed.
- Natasha, I don’t understand you. And what are you saying! Remember your father, Nicolas.
“I don’t need anyone, I don’t love anyone but him.” How dare you say that he is ignoble? Don't you know that I love him? – Natasha shouted. “Sonya, go away, I don’t want to quarrel with you, go away, for God’s sake go away: you see how I’m suffering,” Natasha shouted angrily in a restrained, irritated and desperate voice. Sonya burst into tears and ran out of the room.
Natasha went to the table and, without thinking for a minute, wrote that answer to Princess Marya, which she could not write the whole morning. In this letter, she briefly wrote to Princess Marya that all their misunderstandings were over, that, taking advantage of the generosity of Prince Andrei, who, when leaving, gave her freedom, she asks her to forget everything and forgive her if she is guilty before her, but that she cannot be his wife . It all seemed so easy, simple and clear to her at that moment.

On Friday the Rostovs were supposed to go to the village, and on Wednesday the count went with the buyer to his village near Moscow.
On the day of the count's departure, Sonya and Natasha were invited to a big dinner with the Karagins, and Marya Dmitrievna took them. At this dinner, Natasha again met with Anatole, and Sonya noticed that Natasha was saying something to him, wanting not to be heard, and throughout the dinner she was even more excited than before. When they returned home, Natasha was the first to begin with Sonya the explanation that her friend was waiting for.
“You, Sonya, said all sorts of stupid things about him,” Natasha began in a meek voice, the voice that children use when they want to be praised. - We explained it to him today.
- Well, what, what? Well, what did he say? Natasha, how glad I am that you are not angry with me. Tell me everything, the whole truth. What did he say?
Natasha thought about it.
- Oh Sonya, if only you knew him like I do! He said... He asked me about how I promised Bolkonsky. He was glad that it was up to me to refuse him.
Sonya sighed sadly.
“But you didn’t refuse Bolkonsky,” she said.
- Or maybe I refused! Maybe it's all over with Bolkonsky. Why do you think so badly of me?
- I don’t think anything, I just don’t understand it...
- Wait, Sonya, you will understand everything. You will see what kind of person he is. Don't think bad things about me or him.
– I don’t think anything bad about anyone: I love everyone and feel sorry for everyone. But what should I do?
Sonya did not give in to the gentle tone with which Natasha addressed her. The softer and more searching the expression on Natasha’s face was, the more serious and stern Sonya’s face was.