Antropomorfismo, antropocentrismo y reduccionismo como obstáculos para la investigación de la cognición animal del siglo XXI / Anthropomorphism, anthropocentrism, and reductionism as obstacles to 21st-century animal cognition research

El objetivo de este artículo es argumentar la falta de validez del enfoque reduccionista para el estudio de la cognición animal y proponer su estudio desde un enfoque holista que tenga en cuenta toda la realidad de la cognición animal además de analizar el antropomorfismo y antropocentrismo relacionado con este tema. La metodología usada para esta investigación, fue una revisión de la literatura actual sobre el problema en cuestión y las conclusiones fueron que no se puede entender la mente de los sujetos no humanos sin un enfoque holista. Existen numerosos sesgos en la investigación científica, sea del observador, del sujeto experimental o respecto a los instrumentos de observación y medida. Entre todos los sesgos más conocidos, el muy conocido antropomorfismo, se ha visto como un sesgo inconsciente en donde el hombre se refleja en los elementos de su realidad exterior. La hipótesis de esta investigación es que el reduccionismo no toma en cuenta toda la riqueza y la verdadera realidad de la cognición animal no humana y ésta debe estudiarse mejor, desde un enfoque holista que tiene en cuenta la realidad entera de este fenómeno.

The objective paper is to argue the lack of validity of the reductionist approach to the study of animal cognition and to propose its study from a holistic approach that takes into account the entire reality of animal cognition in addition to analyzing anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism related to this topic. The methodology used for this research was a review of the current literature on the problem in question and the conclusions were that the mind of non-human subjects cannot be understood without a holistic approach. There are numerous biases in scientific research, be it from the observer, from the experimental subject or with respect to the instruments of observation and measurement. Among all the best-known biases, the well-known anthropomorphism has been seen as an unconscious bias where man is reflected in the elements of his external reality. The hypothesis of this research is that reductionism does not take into account all the richness and the true reality of non-human animal cognition and it should be studied better, from a holistic approach that takes into account the entire reality of this phenomenon.

A contribuição de Robert Yerkes para a engenharia humana como instrumento de dominação de classe: uma primeira aproximação / Robert Yerkes' contribution to human engineering as an instrument of class domination: a first approximation / La contribuición de Robert Mearns Yerkes para la ingeniería humana como instrumento de dominación de clase: una primera aproximación

O período de 1870 a 1920 é conhecido como aquele no qual diversos teóricos da psicologia estadunidense estabelecem as diretrizes teóricas e políticas da independência da disciplina frente às demais ciências e às reflexões filosóficas. A psicologia comparada proposta por Robert Mearns Yerkes é uma das mais importantes do final do século XIX e das duas primeiras décadas do século seguinte. As obras do autor referentes à evolução do sistema nervoso central e periférico e suas relações com a inteligência, em conjunto com a psicologia militar e a eugenia, possibilitam, ao menos em parte, a concretização da engenharia humana e de suas futuras aplicações em diversos setores da sociedade estadunidense como instrumento de dominação da classe dominante. Como se trata de uma obra vasta e variadas aplicações na vida cotidiana, pensamos que essa primeira aproximação seja aprofundada em futuras investigações acerca dos movimentos da classe trabalhadora durante o processo de modernização da indústria e da grande reforma social pela qual a sociedade estadunidense à época. Movimentos amplamente desprezados pela historiografia da psicologia estadunidense.(AU)

The period from 1870 to 1920 is known as the one in which several theorists of American psychology establish the theoretical and political guidelines of the discipline's independence from other sciences and philosophical domain. The comparative psychology proposed by Robert Mearns Yerkes is one of the most important of the late nineteenth century and the first two decades of the following century. The author's works on the evolution of the central and peripheral nervous system and its relations with intelligence, taken together with military psychology and eugenics, enable, at least in part, the concretization of human engineering and its future applications in various sectors of the American society as an instrument of domination of the ruling class. As it is a vast work and of varied applications in everyday life, we think that this first approximation will be deepened in future investigations about the movements of the working class during the process of modernization of the industry and of the great social reform by which the American society happened to the time. These movements were widely neglected by the historiography of American psychology.(AU)

El período de 1870 a 1920 es conocido como aquel en el cual diversos teóricos de la psicología estadounidense establecen las directrices teóricas y políticas de la independencia de la disciplina frente a las demás ciencias y reflexiones filosóficas. La psicología comparada propuesta por Robert Mearns Yerkes es una de las más importantes del fin del siglo XIX y de las dos primeras décadas del siglo siguiente. Las obras del autor referentes a la evolución del sistema nervioso central y periférico y sus relaciones con la inteligencia, en conjunto con la psicología militar y la eugenesia, posibilitan, al menos en parte, la concreción de la ingeniería humana y de sus futuras aplicaciones en diversos sectores de la sociedad estadounidense como instrumento de dominación de la clase dominante. Como se trata de una obra vasta y de variadas aplicaciones en la vida cotidiana, esperamos que esa primera aproximación sea profundizada en futuras investigaciones acerca de los movimientos de la clase trabajadora durante el proceso de modernización de la industria y de la gran reforma social por la que la sociedad estadounidense pasaba en esa época. Estos movimientos fueron ampliamente despreciados por la historiografía de la psicología estadounidense.(AU)

N. R. F. Maier: da criatividade às indústrias, entre a psicologia daGestalt e a revolução cognitiva / N. R. F. Maier: from creativity to industry, between Gestalt psychology and the cognitive revolution

Com o crescente número de produções científicas, alguns temas e autores acabam sendo pouco conhecidos devido não receberem atenção (e citações) suficientes. Um exemplo deste fenômeno é a obra de Norman Maier (1900-1977), psicólogo experimental norte americano com publicações que antecipam temas atuais em tópicos como criatividade,recombinação de repertórios, controle aversivo e psicologia organizacional. O presente artigo faz um resgate da obra de Maier, apresentando um resumo de suas principais contribuições experimentais e conceituais, além de suas relações com pesquisas atuais.Ao final, é feita da Lei de Maier, que, entre outras coisas, descreve duas práticas que,segundo o autor, são comuns no fazer científico da Psicologia: dar novos nomes a fenômenos já relatados na literatura, e omitir citações controversas. Conclui-se que o legado, e o tratamento dado ao trabalho de Maier, atualmente, exemplificam sua própria Lei.(AU)

Scientific publications keep growing, and some themes and authors fail to get enough attention (and citations). One example of this phenomenon is the work of Norman Maier,a North American experimental psychologist with more than two hundred publications that anticipate parallel findings in recent topics such as creativity, interconnection of repertoires, aversive control and organizational psychology. The present essay is a brief presentation of Maier‟s work, detailing some of his experimental and conceptual contributions, relating it to contemporary trends of research. At the end, one curious chapter of the authors work is presented, the Maier‟s Law, which, among other things,postulate two practices that in the authors view are common in the scientific community of psychologists: to give new names to old phenomena, and to omit citations that spark controversy. It is concluded that the legacy and the current treatment of Maier‟s work exemplify his law.(AU)

N. R. F. Maier: da criatividade às indústrias, entre a psicologia da Gestalt e a revolução cognitiva / N. R. F. Maier: from creativity to industry, between Gestalt psychology and the cognitive revolution

Com o crescente número de produções científicas, alguns temas e autores acabam sendo pouco conhecidos devido não receberem atenção (e citações) suficientes. Um exemplo deste fenômeno é a obra de Norman Maier (1900-1977), psicólogo experimental norte americano com publicações que antecipam temas atuais em tópicos como criatividade, recombinação de repertórios, controle aversivo e psicologia organizacional. O presente artigo faz um resgate da obra de Maier, apresentando um resumo de suas principais contribuições experimentais e conceituais, além de suas relações com pesquisas atuais. Ao final, é feita da Lei de Maier, que, entre outras coisas, descreve duas práticas que, segundo o autor, são comuns no fazer científico da Psicologia: dar novos nomes a fenômenos já relatados na literatura, e omitir citações controversas. Conclui-se que o legado, e o tratamento dado ao trabalho de Maier, atualmente, exemplificam sua própria Lei.(AU)

Scientific publications keep growing, and some themes and authors fail to get enough attention (and citations). One example of this phenomenon is the work of Norman Maier, a North American experimental psychologist with more than two hundred publications that anticipate parallel findings in recent topics such as creativity, interconnection of repertoires, aversive control and organizational psychology. The present essay is a brief presentation of Maier?s work, detailing some of his experimental and conceptual contributions, relating it to contemporary trends of research. At the end, one curious chapter of the authors work is presented, the Maier?s Law, which, among other things, postulate two practices that in the authors view are common in the scientific community of psychologists: to give new names to old phenomena, and to omit citations that spark controversy. It is concluded that the legacy and the current treatment of Maier?s work exemplify his law.(AU)

Relación entre conducta y activación de áreas cerebrales: Empleo de la técnica de AgNOR en Psicología Comparada / Relationship between behavior and activation of brain areas: Using the AgNOR technique in comparative psychology

Se presenta una revisión de distintos estudios que emplearon la técnica de AgNOR en el campo de las neurociencias del comportamiento. AgNOR es una técnica histológica que permite estudiar la activación cerebral de una región específica. Esta técnica ha sido utilizada en distintos grupos zoológicos que comprenden desde peces y anfibios hasta mamíferos, incluyendo actividad neural tanto en procesos normales como patológicos. En conjunto, la técnica de AgNOR tiene tres notables ventajas con respecto a otras técnicas histológicas como las inmunohistoquímicas. En primer lugar, su bajo costo. En segundo lugar, su robustez. Finalmente, la posibilidad de ser aplicada con facilidad a cualquier especie animal, siendo esto último particularmente relevante en el campo de la Psicología Comparada. Paradójicamente a pesar de estas ventajas, es una técnica poco conocida y empleada. El propósito de este artículo es contribuir a su difusión dentro de la comunidad de científicos del comportamiento.

In this paper we review the use of AgNOR technique in the field of behavioral neuroscience. AgNOR is a histological technique used to study the activation of a specific brain region. NORs (nucleolar organizer regions) are the cell nucleus compartments where part of the ribosomal synthesis occurs. When a neuron enhances its protein synthesis demand, for example during a learning process, NORs increase their size. Staining with silver nitrate, colors the cell nucleus in brown and the cell nucleolus in dark brown, nearly black. Thus, the size of the nucleus and the nucleolus can be easily measured in histological preparations treated with silver nitrate through any appropriated image processing software. In this manner, AgNOR technique consist in staining the tissue of subjects that have received different treatments and comparing the average size of the nucleolus of a particular brain region, which is an indirect marker of cellular activity. The use of AgNOR technique in the study of neural basis of learning, typically involves: (1) training animals in a particular task, (2) after acquisition, animals in the trained group along with animals from a control condition are sacrificed in order to obtain a brain sample, (3) brains of animals from both conditions are processed and compared. This procedure was successfully used to study telencephalic activation during spatial learning in fish (Carassius auratus). The task consisted in using visual cues to identify the correct exit from a trap. In the case of fish, the histological analysis showed an increase of the nucleolus size in the lateral pallium, proposed as homologous to the mammalian hippocampus, observing that this area is involved in spatial memory. In our laboratory this technique was also used to analyze the neural activity after spatial learning in the terrestrial toad Rhinella arenarum. We conducted several studies where dehydrated animals had to use visual cues to locate the correct position of a water source. In accordance with fish’s data, our results indicated a higher activity of the hippocampal homologous region (the amphibian medial pallium), showing a high degree of functional equivalence. On the other hand, we also studied in toads the telencephalic activity during an aversive learning task. Here, it was observed an increase in the average of NORs size in the ventrolateral telencephalic region, the striatum (proposed as homologous to the mammalian amygdala), also showing a highly preserved functional equivalence. In mammals, AgNOR technique was used with different purposes, such as the study of changes in hippocampal activity during development in rats, the comparison of the basal activity of two regions of the rats hippocampus, the CA1 and the CA3, both strongly related with learning, or the the hippocampal activity in two different situations in which the liver activity was altered (by an artificial cholestasis, or by alcohol consumption). Finally, AgNOR technique was also used in the study of human brain activity of subjects that had committed suicide. On the whole, the AgNOR technique has three distinct advantages over other histological techniques such as the immunohistochemical. First, their low cost. Second, their robustness. Finally, the fact that it can be easily applied to any animal species, which makes it particularly attractive to the field of the Comparative Psychology. But paradoxically, despite these advantages it is a poorly known and used technique. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the diffusion of the AgNOR technique in the community of behavioral scientists, showing that its use has provided a valuable contribution to research in different fields and animal species.

Estudios Sobre Cooperación en Perros Domésticos: una Revisión Crítica / Studies on Cooperation in Household Dogs: A Critical Review / Estudos sobre Cooperação em Cachorros Domésticos: uma Revisão Crítica

El análisis comparado de la cooperación contribuye al entendimiento tanto de sus orígenes evolutivos como de los mecanismos próximos involucrados en dicho fenómeno. Esta revisión se centra en estudios sobre cooperación en perros domésticos. Para ello se definieron conceptos relacionados con la cooperación, se describieron las razones filogenéticas y ontogenéticas que hacen del perro un buen modelo para el estudio de este fenómeno y se hizo una revisión crítica de los trabajos realizados en este campo. Fueron incluidas investigaciones sobre situaciones cooperativas y sobre las habilidades cognitivas involucradas. Se discuten hipótesis sobre los mecanismos próximos de esta habilidad que incluyen elementos emocionales, motivacionales y de aprendizaje asociativo.

The comparative analysis of cooperation contributes to the understanding of both its evolutionary origins and the proximate mechanisms involved in this phenomenon. This review focuses on studies of cooperation in household dogs, describing the phylogenetic and ontogenetic reasons that make dogs a good model for the study of this phenomenon, and carrying out a critical review of the research carried out in this field, particularly of research regarding cooperative situations and the cognitive abilities involved. The article also discusses hypotheses regarding the proximate mechanisms of this ability, which include emotional, motivational, and associative learning abilities.

A análise comparada da cooperação contribui para o entendimento tanto de suas origens evolutivas quanto dos mecanismos próximos envolvidos nesse fenômeno. Esta revisão se centraliza em estudos sobre cooperação em cachorros domésticos. Para isso, definiram-se conceitos relacionados com a cooperação, descreveram-se as razões filogenéticas e ontogenéticas que fazem do cachorro um bom modelo para o estudo desse fenômeno e fez-se uma revisão crítica dos trabalhos realizados nesse campo. Foram incluídas pesquisas sobre situações cooperativas e sobre as habilidades cognitivas envolvidas. Discutem-se hipóteses sobre os mecanismos próximos dessa habilidade que incluem elementos emocionais, motivacionais e de aprendizagem associativa.

El estudio psicológico comparado de la percepción de los contornos de entonación declarativo e interrogativo / The comparative psychological study of perception of intonation contours for declarative and interrogative sentences

Si bien existen numerosas investigaciones sobre la percepción del lenguaje en recién nacidos, la percepción de la entonación en adultos y la Psicología Comparada del lenguaje, son muy escasos los estudios en cuanto a la percepción de los contornos de entonación declarativo e interrogativo con bebés, y los estudios sobre este mismo tema en modelos animales son al parecer inexistentes. En este artículo se plantean los fundamentos del estudio comparado de la percepción de dichos contornos de entonación en bebés y en animales. En primer término se discute acerca de la composición del lenguaje y el enfoque de estudio psicolingüístico comparado. A continuación se tratan los temas de la isocronía y de los contornos de entonación declarativo e interrogativo, argumentando que en ambos casos existe un alto grado de universalidad. Finalmente se analizan los alcances del tipo de estudio propuesto, indicando su viabilidad y pertinencia.

One of today's most influential theories of language development and acquisition assumes that the human faculty of language is made-up of three components: syntax, phonology, and semantics. Of these components, the syntactic one may be exclusive of humans, while some specific aspects of the semantic and phonological ones may be not. One implication of this division of the language faculty is that aspects of the semantic and phonological systems could also be found in non-human animals, with their function not necessarily being related to communication. Even though not all the scientific community accepts such explanation of the components of the language faculty, diverse academic groups that do so, have been doing research with humans, non-human primates, rodents, birds, and even with cats, for the last 25 years or so. Usually, the purpose of this type of studies has been to determine what human capacities related to speech have emerged from different precursor systems that were already present in ancestral species, and would have been inherited by men, which components of language are specifically human, which are specifically linguistic, and which ones could be domain-general mechanisms or have served originally for other purposes. Several of these studies imply the existence of a universal division of languages according to rhythmic considerations, known as isochrony. According to this concept, each natural language possesses stable units of constant duration that occur regularly, making it sound in a particular way. But isochrony is not the only universal language feature that can constitute a valid variable in this sort of study. Some characteristics of intonation may also be. Specifically the declarative and interrogative intonation contours, which have been considered a universal phenomenon present in comparable ways in all natural languages. In this regard, though in the different languages of the world the distinction between declaratives and interrogatives can be marked by means of morphsyntactic modifications and intonation, not be marked by intonation, or be only marked by intonation, it is believed that there is a universal tendency to use rising intonation contours to indicate questions (especially in the case of unemphatic yes / no questions) and falling intonation contours to indicate statements. This phenomenon would be related to certain non-linguistic universal codes shared by the human broad phylum, and derived from biologically determined relations. However, while there are numerous investigations in the newborns' and infants' general speech perception processes, in perception of intonation of declarative and interrogative sentences in adults, and in Comparative Psychology of language, studies with infants and newborns in terms of the discrimination of questions and statements are insufficient, and studies on this topic on animal models are, as far as we know, non-existent. In this paper we theoretically validate the comparative study of the perception of intonation contours for questions and statements in infants and in non human animals. We conclude that is feasible and relevant to increase the study of the infants' perception of declarative and interrogative intonation contours, with meaningful variations with respect to the experiments already done, such as the length of the utterances, the type of speech register, the words order, the use of grammatical auxiliaries, the ages of the participants, and the experimental methods. Moreover, it is also desirable to make that same kind of perceptual studies of intonation on animal models, such as rats, birds and monkeys. Pursuing these objectives would make it possible to deepen the knowledge about the language components that are unique for humans and those that are shared with other species. It also could shed some light on the form-function relationships in the phonological component of the language, and about the linguistic universals and precursors.

El estudio psicológico comparado de la percepción de los contornos de entonación declarativo e interrogativo / The comparative psychological study of perception of intonation contours for declarative and interrogative sentences

Si bien existen numerosas investigaciones sobre la percepción del lenguaje en recién nacidos, la percepción de la entonación en adultos y la Psicología Comparada del lenguaje, son muy escasos los estudios en cuanto a la percepción de los contornos de entonación declarativo e interrogativo con bebés, y los estudios sobre este mismo tema en modelos animales son al parecer inexistentes. En este artículo se plantean los fundamentos del estudio comparado de la percepción de dichos contornos de entonación en bebés y en animales. En primer término se discute acerca de la composición del lenguaje y el enfoque de estudio psicoling³ístico comparado. A continuación se tratan los temas de la isocronía y de los contornos de entonación declarativo e interrogativo, argumentando que en ambos casos existe un alto grado de universalidad. Finalmente se analizan los alcances del tipo de estudio propuesto, indicando su viabilidad y pertinencia.(AU)

One of todays most influential theories of language development and acquisition assumes that the human faculty of language is made-up of three components: syntax, phonology, and semantics. Of these components, the syntactic one may be exclusive of humans, while some specific aspects of the semantic and phonological ones may be not. One implication of this division of the language faculty is that aspects of the semantic and phonological systems could also be found in non-human animals, with their function not necessarily being related to communication. Even though not all the scientific community accepts such explanation of the components of the language faculty, diverse academic groups that do so, have been doing research with humans, non-human primates, rodents, birds, and even with cats, for the last 25 years or so. Usually, the purpose of this type of studies has been to determine what human capacities related to speech have emerged from different precursor systems that were already present in ancestral species, and would have been inherited by men, which components of language are specifically human, which are specifically linguistic, and which ones could be domain-general mechanisms or have served originally for other purposes. Several of these studies imply the existence of a universal division of languages according to rhythmic considerations, known as isochrony. According to this concept, each natural language possesses stable units of constant duration that occur regularly, making it sound in a particular way. But isochrony is not the only universal language feature that can constitute a valid variable in this sort of study. Some characteristics of intonation may also be. Specifically the declarative and interrogative intonation contours, which have been considered a universal phenomenon present in comparable ways in all natural languages. In this regard, though in the different languages of the world the distinction between declaratives and interrogatives can be marked by means of morphsyntactic modifications and intonation, not be marked by intonation, or be only marked by intonation, it is believed that there is a universal tendency to use rising intonation contours to indicate questions (especially in the case of unemphatic yes / no questions) and falling intonation contours to indicate statements. This phenomenon would be related to certain non-linguistic universal codes shared by the human broad phylum, and derived from biologically determined relations. However, while there are numerous investigations in the newborns and infants general speech perception processes, in perception of intonation of declarative and interrogative sentences in adults, and in Comparative Psychology of language, studies with infants and newborns in terms of the discrimination of questions and statements are insufficient, and studies on this topic on animal models are, as far as we know, non-existent. In this paper we theoretically validate the comparative study of the perception of intonation contours for questions and statements in infants and in non human animals. We conclude that is feasible and relevant to increase the study of the infants perception of declarative and interrogative intonation contours, with meaningful variations with respect to the experiments already done, such as the length of the utterances, the type of speech register, the words order, the use of grammatical auxiliaries, the ages of the participants, and the experimental methods. Moreover, it is also desirable to make that same kind of perceptual studies of intonation on animal models, such as rats, birds and monkeys. Pursuing these objectives would make it possible to deepen the knowledge about the language components that are unique for humans and those that are shared with other species. It also could shed some light on the form-function relationships in the phonological component of the language, and about the linguistic universals and precursors.(AU)

Cognición social en animales y humanos: ¿es posible establecer un Continuo? / Social cognition in animals and humans: Is it possible to establish a continuum?

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo el análisis de estudios comparados en diversas especies sobre la cognición social, particularmente en los niños, chimpancés y perros domésticos. Si bien las dos primeras especies tienen un mayor parentesco filogenético, los perros, a diferencia de los chimpancés, viven en un contexto humano y comparten un ambiente similar al que experimentan los niños durante su desarrollo. Se analizan las tareas más utilizadas para evaluar capacidades vinculadas con la teoría de la mente, como el seguimiento de la mirada, el reconocimiento del estado atencional y de la perspectiva visual, la relación entre ver y saber así como la comprensión de que las creencias que guían el comportamiento pueden ser falsas. En el momento de comparar las habilidades cognitivas en diferentes especies, homologando las tareas experimentales, es necesario tener en cuenta las características propias de cada una de ellas. Estas comparaciones permiten determinar hasta qué punto estas capacidades son únicamente humanas. Los estudios analizados sugieren que existiría cierta continuidad en las tareas utilizadas así como en las habilidades evaluadas, a excepción de la de falsa creencia. Sin embargo, esta continuidad en los mecanismos involucrados en la cognición social aún es tema de debate.

The aim of the present study is to analyze comparative studies about social cognition in various species, particularly in children, chimpanzees and dogs. While the first two species are closely related, dogs, unlike chimpanzees, live in a human context and share a similar environment to that experienced by children during their development. In this line, we analyze the main tasks used to evaluate theory of mind related skills, such as gaze following, the recognition of others' attentional state and visual perspective taking, the relation between seeing and knowing and the understanding of others' false beliefs. When comparing the cognitive abilities of different species, it is necessary to homologate the experimental tasks taking into account species specific characteristics. These comparisons allow determining to what extent these skills are uniquely human. The evidence reviewed here suggests a continuum in the experimental procedures used as in the evaluated skills, except for the comprehension of false belief. However, the continuity of the mechanisms involved in social cognition is still debated.