Why should anyone be interested in comparative Psychology
Notes:
Investigation of the cognitive processes of animals helps us to gain a clear perspective on fundamental issues in cognitive science. It helps us to see that there are other ways of doing cognition than those with which we are familiar. When combined with computational models of this performance it helps to highlight the sophisticated mechanisms that are hidden by our familiarity with our own processes. Studies of animal cognition also lead us to question our assumptions about the nature of mind, and help to clarify potential confusions. Furthermore, because much of cognitive neuroscience depends on our ability to manipulate brain functions in ways that cannot ethically be done with humans, we need an adequate understanding of cognition in animals if we have any hope of identifying the cognitive features mediated by these brain sites. Finally, understanding our own relationship with nature depends on discovering what makes us unique relative to other animals and on identifying the evolutionary pathways by which we became human. Although no current animal species is ancestral to humans (or any other species), understanding the different evolutionary pathways taken by different species can help us in our attempts to understand human evolution and existence.