Zoopsychology for Clinical Psychologists?
The interest of zoologists is to find out why living organisms may behave in one way, but not another. For example, why does a particular species of blackbird cooperate with one group, but not with another? Zoopsychology analyses the manifestations of mental activity of animals, as well as its development within the individuals of a species or the species as a whole. The mental activity of animals reflects their perception of the world and their attitude towards it.
An important stage in the development of zoopsychology is associated with the ideas of Charles Darwin, who proposed that instincts are a form of behavioral evolutionary adaptation. Mental adaptation is primary in relation to the morphology of the organism. Thus, the foundation for the development of zoopsychology was laid in three main areas:
1. Studying the evolutionary aspects of behavior;
2. Studying the role of instincts in individual behavior;
3. Observing the behavior of human and animal communities.
Materialistic psychology is derived from the idea that the source of information for psychological reflection of animals is their behavior, otherwise known as ‘animal practice’. For example, some conditional and unconditional reflexes that are caused by stimulation of receptors, are under constant influence. As a result, a certain response is produced, which ensures the adaptation of animals to a stable living. The difference between animal and human practices is that the former does not develop more than a certain level of general adaptive objective activity, while in humans the productive form of objective activity is crucial.
Zoopsychologists carry out psychological analysis of behavior by studying the activity of experimental animals during problem-solving. Tasks are set where the actions of the animal can be used to judge the studied mental quality accurately. Simultaneously, the physiological state of the animal, external conditions, and in general anything that can influence the result of the experiment should be taken into account.
At the beginning of our course, we had the subject of zoopsychology. During one of the classes, we studied the adaptation of rats in the “open field experiment”. We observed the reaction of rats to new conditions for six days.
Firstly, we placed the rat in a corner of a box and observed its behavior for five minutes. As soon as the rat steps into a new square with both paws, it was recorded. The number of visits to the sixteen peripheral squares (located adjacent to the walls) was recorded separately from the number of visits to the nine internal squares. Separated counts of the number of visits to external and internal squares were made at one-minute intervals. After five minutes, we returned the rat back to its cage. The number of litter pellets was counted, and the floor cleaned thoroughly after each test. The test was repeated at the same time during the next six days.
At the end of the experiment, we considered the time during which the rat ran a certain number of squares as well as its other activities, analyzed the results and finally made a conclusion about the adaptation of the rat. We considered the freezing of the rat in an open field as a symptom of fear.
The best example of reduction of fear in animals is the phenomenon of domestication. In domesticated animals, the change of emotions is accompanied by a change in the work of internal organs. Defecation is a convenient measure of the vegetative function. During the observation, we recorded a negative correlation between defecation and the study of the central part of open field. If a rat froze or died during the experiment, we considered the rat’s behavior as an index of the rat’s level of anxiety or sensitivity to the action of anxiolytics (tranquilizers). Grooming (brushing, washing the muzzle) was considered as ‘mixed behavior. The rats that moved less or had large defecations in the open field situation were considered more emotional.
A similar phenomena can be observed in red-eared turtles, but in the reaction to colours and conditional stimuli. For example, a certain knock was used as a signal for food. When bright colours — orange, yellow — were used, the red-eared turtles swam up to the glass, ready to eat. However, they didn’t react to the blue shades.
In conclusion, why is theoretical and practical knowledge of zoopsychology necessary? First off, it is important in general psychology to investigate the premises of formation of human consciousness. The mechanisms of development of psyche is the basis for study of many mental illnesses and disorders, including those of childhood. Additionally, zoopsychology has given valuable contributions to the field of anthropology to resolve the issue of the origin of man. Lastly, zoopsychology is not only useful for scientific purposes, but thanks to it, the field of animal therapy has begun to develop.
