Is The Study of Cats and Dogs Relevant to Psychology?
… found that when observing cats multiple attempts to try and escape from a puzzle box, they learnt through duplications and associations. Pavlov’s (1905) study of dogs found that classical conditioning is a form of learning through association, and this has also provided significant information about sensory processes of smell, taste and hearing, etc, in all species. Thorndike’s theory of Law of Effect looked into how animals learn new behaviours and he explained learning as a process of trial and error, showing that we can use research to provide comparative and ecological perspective on issues of the mind and intelligence. Animal studies can teach us about models of adjustment to change, including evolution, development and learning, and can be used to identify and even change behavioural principles. This can be seen from the work by Seligman and Maier (1967) who looked at learned helplessness in laboratory dogs. From their research, they concluded that learned …
