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Animal Psychology?
I am almost finished with Psychology and wonder if there is something like animal psychology and some courses you can attend to?
does anyone know of such things?
in europe its possible in switzerland and germany
thanks
I am almost finished with Psychology and wonder if there is something like animal psychology and some courses you can attend to?
does anyone know of such things?
in europe its possible in switzerland and germany
thanks
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Austria
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Fri, January 6, 2006 - 10:55 AMI don't know of animal behavior/psych classes outside of vet school programs, which are limited to vet students, but there's an excellent television program on the National Geographic channel called The Dog Whisperer that addresses dog psychology. I love it. I learned a lot from it -- and I had worked with two animal behaviorists.
Ceasar Milan was born in Mexico where he lived on his grandfather's ranch with large groups of dogs (30-40). He learned a lot from interacting with this pack. When he came to the states, he didn't speak English so he got a job in a kennel in West Hollywood. In no time, people were buzzing about how he could handle dogs no one else could handle and help dogs with psychological problems. He can rehabilitate even the most violent dog and has even started a facility to rehabilitate pit bulls rescued from fighting groups so they don't have be euthanized. He is just amazing, so amazing that one of his clients, a television producer, offered him this show. (His English is perfect now by the way.) The show is great and it's helping groom better companion humans all over the country. Check it out on National Geographic.
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Fri, January 6, 2006 - 11:15 AMI think there is a school in Washington state that has a program in animal behavior. -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Sat, January 7, 2006 - 1:18 AMtalk to Dr. Jane Packard @ Texas A&M University and Dr. Mark Beckof of Boulder, CO.
I hope to get my Masters under Dr. Packard, by the way. I have another year and a half for my Bachelors in Range and Wildlife Management, and hope to incorporate whatever Dr. Packard can teach me into a well rounded approach to wildlife. -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Wed, January 11, 2006 - 6:04 PMthanks a lot for all that hints, sina -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Wed, January 11, 2006 - 6:06 PMi want to train specifically with cats and difficult cat behaviour. -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Thu, January 12, 2006 - 10:56 PMTo start you off on the right track, the study of animal behavior is called Ethology. This is a very slow growing science, since people are just starting to believe that it is possible for animals to have thoughts, not just react to outside stimulii. Studying cat behavior is one of the hardest since it's hard to get a good research project started. Why? Way too many differences in individuals, and hard as hell to get a control. I too wish to study cats, but I want to specialize in large wild cats of north america, such as mountain lions and bobcats!! WOOHOO!
Father of Ethology: Konrad Lorenz
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Thu, August 10, 2006 - 5:08 AMI know this is an old discussion, but I am new to this group and saw your post about animal behavior classes. I took an Ethology class at my school, university of Hawaii, last semester and was actually very dissapointed in it so I would definatly really look into who is teaching the class and the text used before inveting in the class. I did enjoy my class for a few weeks, but since its a relativly new scientific field there just was not a lot of information in the book, it kept repeating the same concepts. However the examples were very interesting and I found some interesting new topics to explore. The laboratory class was more fun, we built roach mazes and some other stuff and we were required to do a project, I did the effects of olfactory stimuli on tigers at the local zoo. I love studying animal behavior, but like any course I think the class is highly impacted by the prof and mine was not very good. Good luck and I hope you find a class you really enjoy! -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Thu, September 7, 2006 - 12:06 AMLorenz said , “First you must love the animal, then you can study it.”
Some other scientist said (about behavior studies), “Don’t use cats, they’ll mess up your data.” The reason cats are interesting to study is because they are different and challenging. You don’t always need a “control” - that’s 6th-grade science schoolmarm lingo meant to crush the creativity out of bright-eyed kids. We have four cats. I have done a study on them trying to figure out what they do all day. (when I was a kid I ran the neighborhood dogs through a maze, but I found out it didn’t measure their IQ).
Ethology is not a new science; it has been around since before we were human. A deep understanding of nature was part of all human life until relatively recently. The industrial revolution and the rise of large-scale animal cruelty may have suppressed it for a few generations. A lot of animal behavior material has been propaganda (Skinner and the ridiculous “stimulus-response” theory).
The war against animals and the people who love them goes on. As you know, the FBI is more concerned about harrassing vegetarians that investigating the million or so people being killed by carcinogens and unhealthful food every year.
We shouldn’t let school dampen our desire to learn. School is helpful for developing mathematical and technical skills, but we don’t need a class on ethology to learn about ethology. All we need a basic science background (observation, open-mindedness, mathematical skills) and a love for nature.
Read Evolutionary Ecology. Eric Pianka. 6th ed. 2000 Addison Wesley (a great book, important background material for those who want to understand animal behavior).
Three good books about the study of wild cats are:
“Jaguar” by Alan Rabinowitz is a good story about studying big cats.
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. Jim Corbett. 1947 Oxford India, is another great story.
“Animal Kitabu” by Jean-Pierre Hallett (covers many African species, including Lion and Leopard).
I have some other, more-technical books, but those three are easy to read. Schaller studied tigers and lions, but I haven’t read those books yet.
and on the garbage side: If a Lion Could Talk. by Stephen Budiansky. 1998 Free Press (not an animal lover, just a hack writer) -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Thu, September 7, 2006 - 12:52 AMThanks for the imput. I totally didnt mean to say that my class dampened my desire to learn about animals or study behavior, I just meant that if you are going to pay for a class and put the time into it that you should make sure its a good class. I will have to check out some of those books when I have a chance. Unfortunatly my entomology research, my classes, and my other job are kind of putting a hold on any fun reading I would like to do. =-) -
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Re: Animal Psychology?
Thu, September 7, 2006 - 9:47 AMIf you want your results from your research to be considered valid by scientists at all, you need schooling. If you just study ethology as a hobby, go ahead. Sorry, but we are not all Dame Goodall. Check out Dr. Mark Bekhoff. He is an awesome guy, a cognitive ethologist working at University of Colorado.
literati.net/Bekoff/
Also check out Dr. Jane Packard working out of Texas A&M Univeristy.
wfscnet.tamu.edu/people/info.cfm
There are many more out there. Ethology is a VERY new science. The ideals behind the science are not new, but the field of study itself is very new. Jobs are starting to open up very slowly for it. You must have a Ph.D. in Ethology to get anywhere with it. It's a lot of study, hard work, and dirty field time, but oh so worth it.
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