Misplaced Pages

#547452

127-418: Behavioral neuroscience as a scientific discipline emerged from a variety of scientific and philosophical traditions in the 18th and 19th centuries. René Descartes proposed physical models to explain animal as well as human behavior. Descartes suggested that the pineal gland , a midline unpaired structure in the brain of many organisms, was the point of contact between mind and body. Descartes also elaborated on

254-936: A Torricellian mercury barometer. Challenging Blaise Pascal , Descartes took the first set of barometric readings in Stockholm to see if atmospheric pressure could be used in forecasting the weather. Descartes arranged to give lessons to Queen Christina after her birthday, three times a week at 5 am, in her cold and draughty castle. However, by 15 January 1650 the Queen had actually met with Descartes only four or five times. It soon became clear they did not like each other; she did not care for his mechanical philosophy , nor did he share her interest in Ancient Greek language and literature . On 1 February 1650, he contracted pneumonia and died on 11 February at Chanut. "Yesterday morning about four o'clock a.m. has deceased here at

381-528: A Catholic missionary who opposed his religious views. As evidence, Ebert suggests that Catherine Descartes , the niece of René Descartes, made a veiled reference to the act of poisoning when her uncle was administered "communion" two days before his death, in her Report on the Death of M. Descartes, the Philosopher (1693). As a Catholic in a Protestant nation, he was interred in the churchyard of what

508-461: A better understanding of which parts of the brain control behavior. This is best exemplified through the case study of Phineas Gage . The term "psychobiology" has been used in a variety of contexts, emphasizing the importance of biology, which is the discipline that studies organic, neural and cellular modifications in behavior, plasticity in neuroscience, and biological diseases in all aspects, in addition, biology focuses and analyzes behavior and all

635-511: A central intellectual of the Dutch Golden Age . Although he served a Protestant state and was later counted as a deist by critics, Descartes was Roman Catholic . Many elements of Descartes's philosophy have precedents in late Aristotelianism , the revived Stoicism of the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers like Augustine . In his natural philosophy , he differed from the schools on two major points. First, he rejected

762-414: A comfortable income for the rest of his life. Descartes was present at the siege of La Rochelle by Cardinal Richelieu in 1627 as an observer. There, he was interested in the physical properties of the great dike that Richelieu was building and studied mathematically everything he saw during the siege. He also met French mathematician Girard Desargues . In the autumn of that year, in the residence of

889-479: A conception of foundationalism and the possibility that reason is the only reliable method of attaining knowledge. Descartes, however, was very much aware that experimentation was necessary to verify and validate theories. Descartes invokes his causal adequacy principle to support his trademark argument for the existence of God, quoting Lucretius in defence: "Ex nihilo nihil fit" , meaning " Nothing comes from nothing " ( Lucretius ). Oxford Reference summarises

1016-490: A cross-fostered chimpanzee named Gua was better at recognizing human smells and clothing and that the Kelloggs' infant (Donald) recognised humans better by their faces. The study ended nine months after it had begun, after the infant began to imitate the noises of Gua. Nonhuman primates have also been used to show the development of language in comparison with human development. For example, Gardner (1967) successfully taught

1143-528: A falling-out with Beeckman, whom he accused of plagiarizing some of his ideas. In Amsterdam, he had a relationship with a servant girl, Helena Jans van der Strom, with whom he had a daughter, Francine , who was born in 1635 in Deventer . She was baptized a Protestant and died of scarlet fever at the age of 5. Unlike many moralists of the time, Descartes did not deprecate the passions but rather defended them; he wept upon Francine's death in 1640. According to

1270-770: A few days after giving birth to a still-born child. Descartes's father, Joachim, was a member of the Parlement of Rennes at Rennes . René lived with his grandmother and with his great-uncle. Although the Descartes family was Roman Catholic, the Poitou region was controlled by the Protestant Huguenots . In 1607, late because of his fragile health, he entered the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand at La Flèche , where he

1397-515: A firm foundation for genuine knowledge. Descartes built his ideas from scratch which he does in The Meditations on First Philosophy . He relates this to architecture: the top soil is taken away to create a new building or structure. Descartes calls his doubt the soil and new knowledge the buildings. To Descartes, Aristotle's foundationalism is incomplete and his method of doubt enhances foundationalism. Initially, Descartes arrives at only

SECTION 10

#1732800837548

1524-583: A great deal of the experimental literature in behavioral neuroscience comes from the study of non-human species, most frequently rats, mice, and monkeys. As a result, a critical assumption in behavioral neuroscience is that organisms share biological and behavioral similarities, enough to permit extrapolations across species. This allies behavioral neuroscience closely with comparative psychology , ethology , evolutionary biology , and neurobiology . Behavioral neuroscience also has paradigmatic and methodological similarities to neuropsychology , which relies heavily on

1651-457: A hard-and-fast line between their own nature and that of all other animals. Children have no scruples over allowing animals to rank as their full equals." With maturity however, humans find it hard to accept that they themselves are animals, so they categorize, separating humans from animals, and animals into wild animals and tame animals, and tame animals into house pets and livestock. Such divisions can be seen as similar to categories of humans: who

1778-709: A kind of synthesis of the Discourse on the Method and Meditations on First Philosophy . In 1643, Cartesian philosophy was condemned at the University of Utrecht , and Descartes was obliged to flee to the Hague, settling in Egmond-Binnen . Between 1643 and 1649 Descartes lived with his girlfriend at Egmond-Binnen in an inn. Descartes became friendly with Anthony Studler van Zurck, lord of Bergen and participated in

1905-429: A level of empathy in dogs, a point that is strongly debated. Pilley and Reid found that a Border Collie named Chaser was able to successfully identify and retrieve 1022 distinct objects/toys. Researchers who study animal cognition are interested in understanding the mental processes that control complex behavior, and much of their work parallels that of cognitive psychologists working with humans. For example, there

2032-495: A logical syllogism or as an intuitive thought. Descartes has often been called the father of modern philosophy, and is largely seen as responsible for the increased attention given to epistemology in the 17th century. He laid the foundation for 17th-century continental rationalism , later advocated by Spinoza and Leibniz , and was later opposed by the empiricist school of thought consisting of Hobbes , Locke , Berkeley , and Hume . The rise of early modern rationalism—as

2159-622: A long period will ultimately develop unwanted behaviors that have been compared with human psychosis , like biting their owners. The way dogs behave when understimulated is widely believed to depend on the breed as well as on the individual animal's character. For example, huskies have been known to ruin gardens and houses if they are not allowed enough activity. Dogs are also prone to psychological damage if they are subjected to violence. If they are treated very badly, they may become dangerous. The systematic study of disordered animal behavior draws on research in comparative psychology, including

2286-599: A new scientific academy and tutor her in his ideas about love. Descartes accepted, and moved to the Swedish Empire in the middle of winter. Christina was interested in and stimulated Descartes to publish The Passions of the Soul . He was a guest at the house of Pierre Chanut , living on Västerlånggatan , less than 500 meters from Castle Tre Kronor in Stockholm . There, Chanut and Descartes made observations with

2413-443: A person of which the person is immediately conscious . He gave reasons for thinking that waking thoughts are distinguishable from dreams , and that one's mind cannot have been "hijacked" by an evil demon placing an illusory external world before one's senses. And so something that I thought I was seeing with my eyes is grasped solely by the faculty of judgment which is in my mind. In this manner, Descartes proceeds to construct

2540-411: A piece of wax and exposes the single most characteristic doctrine of Cartesian dualism: that the universe contained two radically different kinds of substances—the mind or soul defined as thinking , and the body defined as matter and unthinking. The Aristotelian philosophy of Descartes's day held that the universe was inherently purposeful or teleological. Everything that happened, be it the motion of

2667-601: A professional military officer in 1618, Descartes joined, as a mercenary , the Protestant Dutch States Army in Breda under the command of Maurice of Nassau , and undertook a formal study of military engineering , as established by Simon Stevin . Descartes, therefore, received much encouragement in Breda to advance his knowledge of mathematics. In this way, he became acquainted with Isaac Beeckman ,

SECTION 20

#1732800837548

2794-418: A recent biography by Jason Porterfield, "Descartes said that he did not believe that one must refrain from tears to prove oneself a man." Russell Shorto speculates that the experience of fatherhood and losing a child formed a turning point in Descartes's work, changing its focus from medicine to a quest for universal answers. Despite frequent moves, he wrote all of his major work during his 20-plus years in

2921-461: A room with an "oven" (probably a cocklestove ) to escape the cold. While within, he had three dreams, and believed that a divine spirit revealed to him a new philosophy. However, it is speculated that what Descartes considered to be his second dream was actually an episode of exploding head syndrome . Upon exiting, he had formulated analytic geometry and the idea of applying the mathematical method to philosophy. He concluded from these visions that

3048-403: A significant role in the development in behavioral neuroscience. As a result of localization of function research, many famous people found within psychology have come to various different conclusions. Wilder Penfield was able to develop a map of the cerebral cortex through studying epileptic patients along with Rassmussen. Research on localization of function has led behavioral neuroscientists to

3175-966: A single first principle: he thinks. This is expressed in the Latin phrase in the Discourse on Method " Cogito, ergo sum " (English: "I think, therefore I am"). Descartes concluded, if he doubted, then something or someone must be doing the doubting; therefore, the very fact that he doubted proved his existence. "The simple meaning of the phrase is that if one is skeptical of existence, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist." These two first principles—I think and I exist—were later confirmed by Descartes's clear and distinct perception (delineated in his Third Meditation from The Meditations ): as he clearly and distinctly perceives these two principles, Descartes reasoned, ensures their indubitability. Descartes concludes that he can be certain that he exists because he thinks. But in what form? He perceives his body through

3302-410: A small number have dominated the scene. Ivan Pavlov 's early work used dogs; although they have been the subject of occasional studies, since then they have not figured prominently. Increasing interest in the study of abnormal animal behavior has led to a return to the study of most kinds of domestic animal. Thorndike began his studies with cats, but American comparative psychologists quickly shifted to

3429-483: A soul could not feel pain or anxiety. If animals showed signs of distress then this was to protect the body from damage, but the innate state needed for them to suffer was absent. Although Descartes's views were not universally accepted, they became prominent in Europe and North America, allowing humans to treat animals with impunity. The view that animals were quite separate from humanity and merely machines allowed for

3556-406: A substance apart from the mode which we say differs from it, whereas we cannot, conversely, understand the mode apart from the substance". To perceive a mode apart from its substance requires an intellectual abstraction, which Descartes explained as follows: The intellectual abstraction consists in my turning my thought away from one part of the contents of this richer idea the better to apply it to

3683-462: A system of knowledge, discarding perception as unreliable and, instead, admitting only deduction as a method. Descartes, influenced by the automatons on display at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, investigated the connection between mind and body, and how they interact. His main influences for dualism were theology and physics . The theory on the dualism of mind and body

3810-551: A systematic school of philosophy in its own right for the first time in history—exerted an influence on modern Western thought in general, with the birth of two rationalistic philosophical systems of Descartes ( Cartesianism ) and Spinoza ( Spinozism ). It was the 17th-century arch-rationalists like Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz who have given the " Age of Reason " its name and place in history. Leibniz, Spinoza, and Descartes were all well-versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, with Descartes and Leibniz additionally contributing to

3937-580: A theory in which the pneumatics of bodily fluids could explain reflexes and other motor behavior. This theory was inspired by moving statues in a garden in Paris . Other philosophers also helped give birth to psychology . One of the earliest textbooks in the new field, The Principles of Psychology by William James , argues that the scientific study of psychology should be grounded in an understanding of biology. The emergence of psychology and behavioral neuroscience as legitimate sciences can be traced from

Behavioral neuroscience - Misplaced Pages Continue

4064-446: A theory on automatic bodily reactions to external events, which influenced 19th-century reflex theory. He argued that external motions, such as touch and sound, reach the endings of the nerves and affect the animal spirits. For example, heat from fire affects a spot on the skin and sets in motion a chain of reactions, with the animal spirits reaching the brain through the central nervous system, and in turn, animal spirits are sent back to

4191-429: A thinking substance stem from ideas. Comparative psychology Comparative psychology is the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non- human animals , especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. The phrase comparative psychology may be employed in either a narrow or a broad meaning. In its narrow meaning, it refers to

4318-442: A union of mind and body; thus Descartes's dualism embraced the idea that mind and body are distinct but closely joined. While many contemporary readers of Descartes found the distinction between mind and body difficult to grasp, he thought it was entirely straightforward. Descartes employed the concept of modes , which are the ways in which substances exist. In Principles of Philosophy , Descartes explained, "we can clearly perceive

4445-409: A variety of scientific disciplines. Although only Leibniz is extensively recognized as a polymath , all three rationalists integrated disparate domains of knowledge into their respective works. Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes's influence in mathematics is equally apparent, being the namesake of

4572-412: A wide variety of roles including clarifying experiments, hypothesis testing and generating new insights. These techniques play an increasing role in the advancement of biological psychology. Different manipulations have advantages and limitations. Neural tissue destroyed as a primary consequence of a surgery, electric shock or neurotoxin can confound the results so that the physical trauma masks changes in

4699-406: Is Descartes's signature doctrine and permeates other theories he advanced. Known as Cartesian dualism (or mind–body dualism), his theory on the separation between the mind and the body went on to influence subsequent Western philosophies. In Meditations on First Philosophy , Descartes attempted to demonstrate the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and the body. Humans are

4826-647: Is a well known case study (1976–2007) which was developed by Pepperberg, who found that the African gray parrot Alex did not only mimic vocalisations but understood the concepts of same and different between objects. The study of non-human mammals has also included the study of dogs. Due to their domestic nature and personalities, dogs have lived closely with humans, and parallels in communication and cognitive behaviours have therefore been recognised and further researched. Joly-Mascheroni and colleagues (2008) demonstrated that dogs may be able to catch human yawns and suggested

4953-418: Is being communicated. All great apes have been reported to have the capacity of allospecific symbolic production. Interest in primate studies has increased with the rise in studies of animal cognition. Other animals thought to be intelligent have also been increasingly studied. Examples include various species of corvid , parrots—especially the grey parrot —and dolphins . Alex (Avian Learning Experiment)

5080-445: Is broken. Descartes's discussion on embodiment raised one of the most perplexing problems of his dualism philosophy: What exactly is the relationship of union between the mind and the body of a person? Therefore, Cartesian dualism set the agenda for philosophical discussion of the mind–body problem for many years after Descartes's death. Descartes was also a rationalist and believed in the power of innate ideas . Descartes argued

5207-543: Is closest to human performance and neglects behaviors that humans are usually incapable of (e.g. echolocation ). Specifically, comparative researchers encounter problems associated with individual differences, differences in motivation, differences in reinforcement, differences in sensory function, differences in motor capacities, and species-typical preparedness (i.e. some species have evolved to acquire some behaviors quicker than other behaviors). A wide variety of species have been studied by comparative psychologists. However,

Behavioral neuroscience - Misplaced Pages Continue

5334-453: Is extensive research with animals on attention, categorization, concept formation, memory, spatial cognition, and time estimation. Much research in these and other areas is related directly or indirectly to behaviors important to survival in natural settings, such as navigation, tool use, and numerical competence. Thus, comparative psychology and animal cognition are heavily overlapping research categories. Veterinary surgeons recognize that

5461-407: Is often focused in computer science, it has begun to move towards other areas of study. For example, psychology is one of these areas. Computational models allow researchers in psychology to enhance their understanding of the functions and developments in nervous systems. Examples of methods include the modelling of neurons, networks and brain systems and theoretical analysis. Computational methods have

5588-428: Is part of a human community and someone who is not—that is, the outsider. The New York Times ran an article that showed the psychological benefits of animals, more specifically of children with their pets. It has been proven that having a pet does in fact improve kids' social skills. In the article, Dr. Sue Doescher, a psychologist involved in the study, stated, "It made the children more cooperative and sharing." It

5715-426: Is sometimes assumed to emphasize cross-species comparisons, including those between humans and animals. However, some researchers feel that direct comparisons should not be the sole focus of comparative psychology and that intense focus on a single organism to understand its behavior is just as desirable; if not more so. Donald Dewsbury reviewed the works of several psychologists and their definitions and concluded that

5842-439: Is that either the independent variable of the experiment is biological, or some dependent variable is biological. In other words, the nervous system of the organism under study is permanently or temporarily altered, or some aspect of the nervous system is measured (usually to be related to a behavioral variable). Computational models - Using a computer to formulate real-world problems to develop solutions. Although this method

5969-458: Is thought to be "the first ethologist in the sense in which we presently use the word". Although the field initially attempted to include a variety of species, by the early 1950s it had focused primarily on the white lab rat and the pigeon, and the topic of study was restricted to learning, usually in mazes. This stunted state of affairs was pointed out by Beach (1950) and although it was generally agreed with, no real change took place. He repeated

6096-462: Is under one's complete control. The moral writings of Descartes came at the last part of his life, but earlier, in his Discourse on the Method , he adopted three maxims to be able to act while he put all his ideas into doubt. Those maxims are known as his "Provisional Morals" . In the third and fifth Meditation , Descartes offers proofs of a benevolent God (the trademark argument and the ontological argument respectively). Descartes has faith in

6223-721: The Passions of the Soul , an early modern treatise on emotions, Descartes goes so far as to assert that he will write on this topic "as if no one had written on these matters before." His best known philosophical statement is " cogito, ergo sum " ("I think, therefore I am"; French: Je pense, donc je suis ), found in Discourse on the Method (1637, in French and Latin, 1644) and Principles of Philosophy (1644, in Latin, 1647 in French). The statement has either been interpreted as

6350-592: The Cartesian coordinate system . He is credited as the father of analytic geometry—used in the discovery of infinitesimal calculus and analysis . Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution . René Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine , Province of Touraine (now Descartes , Indre-et-Loire ), France, on 31 March 1596. In May 1597, his mother Jeanne Brochard, died

6477-762: The National Convention in 1792 had planned to transfer his remains to the Panthéon , he was reburied in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 1819, missing a finger and the skull. His alleged skull is in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, but some 2020 researches confirm that it may be a forgery. The original skull was probably divided into pieces in Sweden and given to private collectors; one of those pieces arrived at

SECTION 50

#1732800837548

6604-548: The University of Franeker , studying under Adriaan Metius , either living with a Catholic family or renting the Sjaerdemaslot . The next year, under the name "Poitevin", he enrolled at Leiden University , which at the time was a Protestant University. He studied both mathematics with Jacobus Golius , who confronted him with Pappus's hexagon theorem , and astronomy with Martin Hortensius . In October 1630, he had

6731-446: The University of Lund in 1691, where it is still preserved. In his Discourse on the Method , he attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. To achieve this, he employs a method called hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also sometimes referred to as methodological skepticism or Cartesian doubt : he rejects any ideas that can be doubted and then re-establishes them in order to acquire

6858-465: The maltreatment of animals , and was sanctioned in law and societal norms until the middle of the 19th century. The publications of Charles Darwin would eventually erode the Cartesian view of animals. Darwin argued that the continuity between humans and other species suggested the possibility of animal suffering. For Descartes, ethics was a science, the highest and most perfect of them. Like

6985-430: The psychosomatic processes and reactions in man, with an emphasis on emotions or passions. His works about human passion and emotion would be the basis for the philosophy of his followers (see Cartesianism ), and would have a lasting impact on ideas concerning what literature and art should be, specifically how it should invoke emotion. Descartes and Zeno both identified sovereign goods with virtue. For Epicurus ,

7112-509: The soul . Descartes's dualism of mind and matter implied a concept of human beings. A human was, according to Descartes, a composite entity of mind and body. Descartes gave priority to the mind and argued that the mind could exist without the body, but the body could not exist without the mind. In The Meditations , Descartes even argues that while the mind is a substance, the body is composed only of "accidents". But he did argue that mind and body are closely joined: Nature also teaches me, by

7239-416: The stars or the growth of a tree , was supposedly explainable by a certain purpose, goal or end that worked its way out within nature. Aristotle called this the "final cause", and these final causes were indispensable for explaining the ways nature operated. Descartes's theory of dualism supports the distinction between traditional Aristotelian science and the new science of Kepler and Galileo, which denied

7366-485: The 18th and 19th centuries, behavioral neuroscience was beginning to take form as far back as 1700 B.C. The question that seems to continually arise is: what is the connection between the mind and body? The debate is formally referred to as the mind-body problem . There are two major schools of thought that attempt to resolve the mind–body problem; monism and dualism . Plato and Aristotle are two of several philosophers who participated in this debate. Plato believed that

7493-566: The 19th century, a majority of scholars in the Western world continued to believe that music was a distinctly human phenomenon, but experiments since then have vindicated Ibn al-Haytham's view that music does indeed have an effect on animals. Charles Darwin was central in the development of comparative psychology; it is thought that psychology should be spoken in terms of "pre-" and "post-Darwin" because his contributions were so influential. Darwin's theory led to several hypotheses, one being that

7620-456: The Method ). In it, Descartes lays out four rules of thought, meant to ensure that our knowledge rests upon a firm foundation: The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgment than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt. In La Géométrie , Descartes exploited

7747-540: The Method , Descartes recalls: I entirely abandoned the study of letters. Resolving to seek no knowledge other than that of which could be found in myself or else in the great book of the world, I spent the rest of my youth traveling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks, gathering various experiences, testing myself in the situations which fortune offered me, and at all times reflecting upon whatever came my way to derive some profit from it. In accordance with his ambition to become

SECTION 60

#1732800837548

7874-669: The Netherlands, initiating a revolution in mathematics and philosophy. In 1633, Galileo was condemned by the Italian Inquisition , and Descartes abandoned plans to publish Treatise on the World , his work of the previous four years. Nevertheless, in 1637, he published parts of this work in three essays: "Les Météores" (The Meteors), " La Dioptrique " (Dioptrics) and La Géométrie ( Geometry ), preceded by an introduction, his famous Discours de la méthode ( Discourse on

8001-595: The Nobel Prize being given to ethologists, combined with a flood of informative books and television programs on ethological studies that came to be widely seen and read in the United States. At present, comparative psychology in the United States is moribund. Throughout the long history of comparative psychology, repeated attempts have been made to enforce a more disciplined approach, in which similar studies are carried out on animals of different species, and

8128-408: The account of reality his senses provide him, since he believed that God provided him with a working mind and sensory system and does not desire to deceive him. From this supposition, however, Descartes finally establishes the possibility of acquiring knowledge about the world based on deduction and perception. Regarding epistemology , therefore, Descartes can be said to have contributed such ideas as

8255-420: The argument, as follows, "that our idea of perfection is related to its perfect origin (God), just as a stamp or trademark is left in an article of workmanship by its maker." In the fifth Meditation, Descartes presents a version of the ontological argument which is founded on the possibility of thinking the "idea of a being that is supremely perfect and infinite," and suggests that "of all the ideas that are in me,

8382-566: The army. He visited Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto, then visited various countries before returning to France, and during the next few years, he spent time in Paris. It was there that he composed his first essay on method: Regulae ad Directionem Ingenii ( Rules for the Direction of the Mind ). He arrived in La Haye in 1623, selling all of his property to invest in bonds , which provided

8509-408: The basis for theories on emotions and how cognitive evaluations were translated into affective processes. Descartes believed the brain resembled a working machine and that mathematics, and mechanics could explain complicated processes in it. In the 20th century, Alan Turing advanced computer science based on mathematical biology as inspired by Descartes. His theories on reflexes also served as

8636-472: The behavior contributes to the lifetime reproductive success of the individuals demonstrating the behavior (i.e. does the behavior result in animals producing more offspring than animals not displaying the behavior)? Theories addressing the ultimate causes of behavior are based on the answers to these two questions. Third, what mechanisms are involved in the behavior (i.e. what physiological, behavioral, and environmental components are necessary and sufficient for

8763-835: The behavior of humans and animals have sometimes been used in an attempt to understand the evolutionary significance of particular behaviors. Differences in the treatment of animals have been said to reflect a society's understanding of human nature and the place of humans and animals in the scheme of things. Domestication has been of particular interest. For example, it has been argued that, as animals became domesticated, humans treated them as property and began to see them as inferior or fundamentally different from humans. Ingold remarks that in all societies children have to learn to differentiate and separate themselves from others. In this process, strangers may be seen as "not people", and like animals. Ingold quoted Sigmund Freud: "Children show no trace of arrogance which urges adult civilized men to draw

8890-417: The brain was where all mental thought and processes happened. In contrast, Aristotle believed the brain served the purpose of cooling down the emotions derived from the heart. The mind-body problem was a stepping stone toward attempting to understand the connection between the mind and body. Another debate arose about localization of function or functional specialization versus equipotentiality which played

9017-445: The charges a decade later, again with no results. In the meantime, in Europe, ethology was making strides in studying a multitude of species and a plethora of behaviors. There was friction between the two disciplines where there should have been cooperation, but comparative psychologists refused, for the most part, to broaden their horizons. This state of affairs ended with the triumph of ethology over comparative psychology, culminating in

9144-409: The correct reasoning that should guide their actions. Nevertheless, the quality of this reasoning depends on knowledge and mental condition. For this reason, he said that a complete moral philosophy should include the study of the body. He discussed this subject in the correspondence with Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia , and as a result wrote his work The Passions of the Soul , that contains a study of

9271-407: The demands of different tasks, or in their choice of species to compare. However, the definition of "intelligence" in comparative psychology is deeply affected by anthropomorphism; experiments focused on simple tasks, complex problems, reversal learning, learning sets, and delayed alternation were plagued with practical and theoretical problems. In the literature, "intelligence" is defined as whatever

9398-456: The design of his mansion and estate. He also met Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop , a mathematician and surveyor . He was so impressed by Van Nierop's knowledge that he even brought him to the attention of Constantijn Huygens and Frans van Schooten. Christia Mercer suggested that Descartes may have been influenced by Spanish author and Roman Catholic nun Teresa of Ávila , who, fifty years earlier, published The Interior Castle , concerning

9525-547: The development of more precise noninvasive methods that can be applied to human subjects, behavioral neuroscientists are beginning to contribute to other classical topic areas of psychology, philosophy, and linguistics, such as: Behavioral neuroscience has also had a strong history of contributing to the understanding of medical disorders, including those that fall under the purview of clinical psychology and biological psychopathology (also known as abnormal psychology). Although animal models do not exist for all mental illnesses,

9652-459: The discoveries he made with Pierre de Fermat . This later became known as Cartesian Geometry. Descartes continued to publish works concerning both mathematics and philosophy for the rest of his life. In 1641, he published a metaphysics treatise, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia ( Meditations on First Philosophy ), written in Latin and thus addressed to the learned. It was followed in 1644 by Principia Philosophiae ( Principles of Philosophy ),

9779-479: The ear and the eye to the pineal gland, through animal spirits. Thus different motions in the gland cause various animal spirits. He argued that these motions in the pineal gland are based on God's will and that humans are supposed to want and like things that are useful to them. But he also argued that the animal spirits that moved around the body could distort the commands from the pineal gland, thus humans had to learn how to control their passions. Descartes advanced

9906-448: The early work on conditioning and instrumental learning, but also on ethological studies of natural behavior. However, at least in the case of familiar domestic animals, it also draws on the accumulated experience of those who have worked closely with the animals. The relationship between humans and animals has long been of interest to anthropologists as one pathway to an understanding the evolution of human behavior. Similarities between

10033-415: The emergence of physiology from anatomy , particularly neuroanatomy . Physiologists conducted experiments on living organisms, a practice that was distrusted by the dominant anatomists of the 18th and 19th centuries. The influential work of Claude Bernard , Charles Bell , and William Harvey helped to convince the scientific community that reliable data could be obtained from living subjects. Even before

10160-458: The end of the 19th century, several scientists existed whose work was also very influential. Douglas Alexander Spalding was called the "first experimental biologist", and worked mostly with birds; studying instinct, imprinting, and visual and auditory development. Jacques Loeb emphasized the importance of objectively studying behavior, Sir John Lubbock is credited with first using mazes and puzzle devices to study learning and Conwy Lloyd Morgan

10287-458: The factors that set humans apart, such as higher mental, moral and spiritual faculties, could be accounted for by evolutionary principles. In response to the vehement opposition to Darwinism was the "anecdotal movement" led by George Romanes who set out to demonstrate that animals possessed a "rudimentary human mind". Romanes is most famous for two major flaws in his work: his focus on anecdotal observations and entrenched anthropomorphism . Near

10414-565: The female chimpanzee Washoe 350 words in American Sign Language . Washoe subsequently passed on some of this teaching to her adopted offspring, Loulis . A criticism of Washoe's acquisition of sign language focused on the extent to which she actually understood what she was signing. Her signs may have just been based on an association to get a reward, such as food or a toy. Other studies concluded that apes do not understand linguistic input, but may form an intended meaning of what

10541-535: The field has contributed important therapeutic data on a variety of conditions, including: Behavioral neuroscientists conduct research on various cognitive processes through the use of different neuroimaging techniques. Examples of cognitive research might involve examination of neural correlates during emotional information processing, such as one study that analyzed the relationship between subjective affect and neural reactivity during sustained processing of positive (savoring) and negative (rumination) emotion. The aim of

10668-439: The foundation for advanced physiological theories , more than 200 years after his death. The physiologist Ivan Pavlov was a great admirer of Descartes. Descartes denied that animals had reason or intelligence. He argued that animals did not lack sensations or perceptions, but these could be explained mechanistically. Whereas humans had a soul, or mind, and were able to feel pain and anxiety , animals by virtue of not having

10795-467: The function returns to its previous state after the drug has been metabolized. In general, behavioral neuroscientists study various neuronal and biological processes underlying behavior, though limited by the need to use nonhuman animals. As a result, the bulk of literature in behavioral neuroscience deals with experiences and mental processes that are shared across different animal models such as: However, with increasing technical sophistication and with

10922-708: The fundamental neurophysiological processes of interest. For example, when using an electrolytic probe to create a purposeful lesion in a distinct region of the rat brain, surrounding tissue can be affected: so, a change in behavior exhibited by the experimental group post-surgery is to some degree a result of damage to surrounding neural tissue, rather than by a lesion of a distinct brain region. Most genetic manipulation techniques are also considered permanent. Temporary lesions can be achieved with advanced in genetic manipulations, for example, certain genes can now be switched on and off with diet. Pharmacological manipulations also allow blocking of certain neurotransmitters temporarily as

11049-439: The generation of the behavior)? Fourth, a researcher may ask about the development of the behavior within an individual (i.e. what maturational, learning, social experiences must an individual undergo in order to demonstrate a behavior)? Theories addressing the proximate causes of behavior are based on answers to these two questions. For more details see Tinbergen's four questions . The 9th century scholar al-Jahiz wrote works on

11176-543: The great differences between body (an extended thing) and mind (an un-extended, immaterial thing) make the two ontologically distinct. According to Descartes's indivisibility argument, the mind is utterly indivisible: because "when I consider the mind, or myself in so far as I am merely a thinking thing, I am unable to distinguish any part within myself; I understand myself to be something quite single and complete." Moreover, in The Meditations , Descartes discusses

11303-438: The house of His Excellency Mr. Chanut, French ambassador, Mr. Descartes. As I have been informed, he had been ill for a few days with pleurisy. But as he did not want to take or use medicines, a hot fever appears to have arisen as well. Thereupon, he had himself bled three times in one day, but without operation of losing much blood. Her Majesty much bemoaned his decease, because he was such a learned man. He has been cast in wax. It

11430-436: The human body contained animal spirits. These animal spirits were believed to be light and roaming fluids circulating rapidly around the nervous system between the brain and the muscles. These animal spirits were believed to affect the human soul, or passions of the soul. Descartes distinguished six basic passions: wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy and sadness. All of these passions, he argued, represented different combinations of

11557-668: The idea that I have of God is the most true, the most clear and distinct." Descartes considered himself to be a devout Catholic, and one of the purposes of the Meditations was to defend the Catholic faith. His attempt to ground theological beliefs on reason encountered intense opposition in his time. Pascal regarded Descartes's views as a rationalist and mechanist, and accused him of deism : "I cannot forgive Descartes; in all his philosophy, Descartes did his best to dispense with God. But Descartes could not avoid prodding God to set

11684-432: The ideas that are being transmitted, and that God has given him the "propensity" to believe that such ideas are caused by material things. Descartes also believes a substance is something that does not need any assistance to function or exist. Descartes further explains how only God can be a true "substance". But minds are substances, meaning they need only God for it to function. The mind is a thinking substance. The means for

11811-485: The label of the field is never likely to disappear completely. A persistent question with which comparative psychologists have been faced is the relative intelligence of different species of animal. Indeed, some early attempts at a genuinely comparative psychology involved evaluating how well animals of different species could learn different tasks. These attempts floundered; in retrospect it can be seen that they were not sufficiently sophisticated, either in their analysis of

11938-662: The more economical rat , which remained the almost invariable subject for the first half of the 20th century and continues to be used. Skinner introduced the use of pigeons , and they continue to be important in some fields. There has always been interest in studying various species of primate ; important contributions to social and developmental psychology were made by Harry F. Harlow 's studies of maternal deprivation in rhesus monkeys . Cross-fostering studies have shown similarities between human infants and infant chimpanzees. Kellogg and Kellogg (1933) aimed to look at heredity and environmental effects of young primates. They found that

12065-446: The muscles to move the hand away from the fire. Through this chain of reactions, the automatic reactions of the body do not require a thought process. Above all, he was among the first scientists who believed that the soul should be subject to scientific investigation. He challenged the views of his contemporaries that the soul was divine , thus religious authorities regarded his books as dangerous. Descartes's writings went on to form

12192-443: The object of comparative psychology is to establish principles of generality focusing on both proximate and ultimate causation . Using a comparative approach to behavior allows one to evaluate the target behavior from four different, complementary perspectives, developed by Niko Tinbergen. First, one may ask how pervasive the behavior is across species (i.e. how common is the behavior between animal species?). Second, one may ask how

12319-452: The original spirit, and influenced the soul to will or want certain actions. He argued, for example, that fear is a passion that moves the soul to generate a response in the body. In line with his dualist teachings on the separation between the soul and the body, he hypothesized that some part of the brain served as a connector between the soul and the body and singled out the pineal gland as connector. Descartes argued that signals passed from

12446-423: The other part with greater attention. Thus, when I consider a shape without thinking of the substance or the extension whose shape it is, I make a mental abstraction. According to Descartes, two substances are really distinct when each of them can exist apart from the other. Thus, Descartes reasoned that God is distinct from humans, and the body and mind of a human are also distinct from one another. He argued that

12573-558: The papal nuncio Guidi di Bagno , where he came with Mersenne and many other scholars to listen to a lecture given by the alchemist, Nicolas de Villiers, Sieur de Chandoux, on the principles of a supposed new philosophy, Cardinal Bérulle urged him to write an exposition of his new philosophy in some location beyond the reach of the Inquisition. Descartes returned to the Dutch Republic in 1628. In April 1629, he joined

12700-812: The principal of a Dordrecht school, for whom he wrote the Compendium of Music (written 1618, published 1650). While in the service of the Catholic Duke Maximilian of Bavaria from 1619, Descartes was present at the Battle of the White Mountain near Prague , in November 1620. According to Adrien Baillet , on the night of 10–11 November 1619 ( St. Martin's Day ), while stationed in Neuburg an der Donau , Descartes shut himself in

12827-473: The psychological state of a captive or domesticated animal must be taken into account if its behavior and health are to be understood and optimized. Common causes of disordered behavior in captive or pet animals are lack of stimulation, inappropriate stimulation, or overstimulation. These conditions can lead to disorders, unpredictable and unwanted behavior, and sometimes even physical symptoms and diseases. For example, rats who are exposed to loud music for

12954-410: The pursuit of science would prove to be, for him, the pursuit of true wisdom and a central part of his life's work. Descartes also saw very clearly that all truths were linked with one another, so that finding a fundamental truth and proceeding with logic would open the way to all science. Descartes arrived at this basic truth quite soon: his famous " I think, therefore I am ." In 1620, Descartes left

13081-400: The rest of the sciences, ethics had its roots in metaphysics. In this way, he argues for the existence of God, investigates the place of man in nature, formulates the theory of mind–body dualism, and defends free will . However, as he was a convinced rationalist, Descartes clearly states that reason is sufficient in the search for the goods that individuals should seek, and virtue consists in

13208-420: The results interpreted in terms of their different phylogenetic or ecological backgrounds. Behavioral ecology in the 1970s gave a more solid base of knowledge against which a true comparative psychology could develop. However, the broader use of the term "comparative psychology" is enshrined in the names of learned societies and academic journals, not to mention in the minds of psychologists of other specialisms, so

13335-414: The role of a divine power and "final causes" in its attempts to explain nature. Descartes's dualism provided the philosophical rationale for the latter by expelling the final cause from the physical universe (or res extensa ) in favor of the mind (or res cogitans ). Therefore, while Cartesian dualism paved the way for modern physics , it also held the door open for religious beliefs about the immortality of

13462-599: The role of philosophical reflection in intellectual growth. Descartes began (through Alfonso Polloti, an Italian general in Dutch service) a six-year correspondence with Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia , devoted mainly to moral and psychological subjects. Connected with this correspondence, in 1649 he published Les Passions de l'âme ( The Passions of the Soul ), which he dedicated to the Princess. A French translation of Principia Philosophiae , prepared by Abbot Claude Picot,

13589-472: The sake of doubting but to achieve concrete and reliable information. In other words, certainty. He argues that sensory perceptions come to him involuntarily, and are not willed by him. They are external to his senses, and according to Descartes, this is evidence of the existence of something outside of his mind, and thus, an external world. Descartes goes on to argue that the things in the external world are material by arguing that God would not deceive him as to

13716-442: The sensations of pain, hunger, thirst and so on, that I am not merely present in my body as a pilot in his ship, but that I am very closely joined and, as it were, intermingled with it, so that I and the body form a unit. If this were not so, I, who am nothing but a thinking thing, would not feel pain when the body was hurt, but would perceive the damage purely by the intellect, just as a sailor perceives by sight if anything in his ship

13843-668: The social organization and communication methods of animals like ants. The 11th century Arabic writer Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) wrote the Treatise on the Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals , an early treatise dealing with the effects of music on animals . In the treatise, he demonstrates how a camel's pace could be hastened or slowed with the use of music , and shows other examples of how music can affect animal behavior , experimenting with horses, birds and reptiles. Through to

13970-516: The sovereign good was pleasure, and Descartes says that, in fact, this is not in contradiction with Zeno's teaching, because virtue produces a spiritual pleasure that is better than bodily pleasure. Regarding Aristotle 's opinion that happiness (eudaimonia) depends on both moral virtue and also on the goods of fortune such as a moderate degree of wealth, Descartes does not deny that fortunes contributes to happiness, but remarks that they are in great proportion outside one's own control, whereas one's mind

14097-409: The splitting of corporeal substance into matter and form; second, he rejected any appeal to final ends , divine or natural, in explaining natural phenomena. In his theology, he insists on the absolute freedom of God's act of creation . Refusing to accept the authority of previous philosophers, Descartes frequently set his views apart from the philosophers who preceded him. In the opening section of

14224-417: The study of the behavior of humans with nervous system dysfunction (i.e., a non-experimentally based biological manipulation). Synonyms for behavioral neuroscience include biopsychology, biological psychology, and psychobiology. Physiological psychology is a subfield of behavioral neuroscience, with an appropriately narrower definition. The distinguishing characteristic of a behavioral neuroscience experiment

14351-488: The study of the similarities and differences in the psychology and behavior of different species. In a broader meaning, comparative psychology includes comparisons between different biological and socio-cultural groups, such as species , sexes , developmental stages, ages, and ethnicities . Research in this area addresses many different issues, uses many different methods and explores the behavior of many different species, from insects to primates . Comparative psychology

14478-536: The study was to analyze whether repetitive positive thinking (seen as being beneficial) and repetitive negative thinking (significantly related to worse mental health) would have similar underlying neural mechanisms. Researchers found that the individuals who had a more intense positive affect during savoring, were also the same individuals who had a more intense negative affect during rumination. fMRI data showed similar activations in brain regions during both rumination and savoring, suggesting shared neural mechanisms between

14605-443: The subjects it is concerned about, from a scientific point of view. In this context, psychology helps as a complementary, but important discipline in the neurobiological sciences. The role of psychology in this questions is that of a social tool that backs up the main or strongest biological science. The term "psychobiology" was first used in its modern sense by Knight Dunlap in his book An Outline of Psychobiology (1914) . Dunlap also

14732-407: The theory of innate knowledge and that all humans were born with knowledge through the higher power of God. It was this theory of innate knowledge that was later combated by philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), an empiricist. Empiricism holds that all knowledge is acquired through experience. In The Passions of the Soul , published in 1649, Descartes discussed the common contemporary belief that

14859-1025: The two types of repetitive thinking. The results of the study suggest there are similarities, both subjectively and mechanistically, with repetitive thinking about positive and negative emotions. This overall suggests shared neural mechanisms by which sustained emotional processing of both positive and negative information occurs. Nobel Laureates The following Nobel Prize winners could reasonably be considered behavioral neuroscientists or neurobiologists. (This list omits winners who were almost exclusively neuroanatomists or neurophysiologists ; i.e., those that did not measure behavioral or neurobiological variables.) Kavli Prize in Neuroscience Ren%C3%A9 Descartes René Descartes ( / d eɪ ˈ k ɑːr t / day- KART or UK : / ˈ d eɪ k ɑːr t / DAY -kart ; French: [ʁəne dekaʁt] ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650)

14986-412: The use of the senses; however, these have previously been unreliable. So Descartes determines that the only indubitable knowledge is that he is a thinking thing . Thinking is what he does, and his power must come from his essence. Descartes defines "thought" ( cogitatio ) as "what happens in me such that I am immediately conscious of it, insofar as I am conscious of it". Thinking is thus every activity of

15113-494: The world in motion with a snap of his lordly fingers; after that, he had no more use for God," while a powerful contemporary, Martin Schoock , accused him of atheist beliefs, though Descartes had provided an explicit critique of atheism in his Meditations . The Catholic Church prohibited his books in 1663. Descartes also wrote a response to external world skepticism . Through this method of skepticism, he does not doubt for

15240-500: Was a French philosopher, scientist , and mathematician , widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science . Mathematics was paramount to his method of inquiry, and he connected the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra into analytic geometry . Descartes spent much of his working life in the Dutch Republic , initially serving the Dutch States Army , and later becoming

15367-637: Was also shown that these kids were more confident with themselves and able to be more empathic with other children. Furthermore, in an edition of Social Science and Medicine it was stated, "A random survey of 339 residents from Perth, Western Australia were selected from three suburbs and interviewed by telephone. Pet ownership was found to be positively associated with some forms of social contact and interaction, and with perceptions of neighborhood friendliness. After adjustment for demographic variables, pet owners scored higher on social capital and civic engagement scales." Results like these let us know that owning

15494-430: Was introduced to mathematics and physics, including Galileo 's work. While there, Descartes first encountered hermetic mysticism. After graduation in 1614, he studied for two years (1615–16) at the University of Poitiers , earning a Baccalauréat and Licence in canon and civil law in 1616, in accordance with his father's wishes that he should become a lawyer. From there, he moved to Paris. In Discourse on

15621-441: Was not his intention to die here, as he had resolved shortly before his death to return to Holland at the first occasion. Etc." The cause of death was pneumonia according to Chanut, but peripneumonia according to Christina's physician Johann van Wullen who was not allowed to bleed him. (The winter seems to have been mild, except for the second half of January which was harsh as described by Descartes himself; however, "this remark

15748-464: Was probably intended to be as much Descartes's take on the intellectual climate as it was about the weather.") E. Pies has questioned this account, based on a letter by the Doctor van Wullen; however, Descartes had refused his treatment, and more arguments against its veracity have been raised since. In a 2009 book, German philosopher Theodor Ebert argues that Descartes was poisoned by Jacques Viogué,

15875-506: Was published in 1647. This edition was also dedicated to Princess Elisabeth. In the preface to the French edition , Descartes praised true philosophy as a means to attain wisdom. He identifies four ordinary sources to reach wisdom and finally says that there is a fifth, better and more secure, consisting in the search for first causes. By 1649, Descartes had become one of Europe's most famous philosophers and scientists. That year, Queen Christina of Sweden invited him to her court to organize

16002-419: Was the founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Psychobiology . In the announcement of that journal, Dunlap writes that the journal will publish research "...bearing on the interconnection of mental and physiological functions", which describes the field of behavioral neuroscience even in its modern sense. In many cases, humans may serve as experimental subjects in behavioral neuroscience experiments; however,

16129-824: Was to become Adolf Fredrik Church in Stockholm, where mainly orphans had been buried. His manuscripts came into the possession of Claude Clerselier , Chanut's brother-in-law, and "a devout Catholic who has begun the process of turning Descartes into a saint by cutting, adding and publishing his letters selectively." In 1663, the Pope placed Descartes's works on the Index of Prohibited Books . In 1666, sixteen years after his death, his remains were taken to France and buried in Saint-Étienne-du-Mont . In 1671, Louis XIV prohibited all lectures in Cartesianism . Although

#547452