Citation

Author Website

https://eeb.utk.edu/people/gordon-burghardt/

Thread

Carolyn A. Ristau, Précis of: "Birds, Bats and Minds: Tales of a Revolutionary Scientist, Donald R. Griffin"

Abstract

Carolyn Ristau’s trilogy provides a comprehensive account of Donald Griffin’s life and work, with the third volume focusing on cognitive ethology. This commentary focuses primarily on my own interactions with Don, particularly during my sabbatical at Rockefeller University when his campaign for cognitive ethology was gaining momentum. I recount my research on reptile behavior and cognition, my collaboration with Don and others at RU, and my role in advancing his ideas while contextualizing them within 19th-century comparative psychology. I also discuss developments in cognitive ethology, including critical anthropomorphism, the challenges of integrating subjective experience into behavioral science, and Griffin’s lasting influence on animal cognition research.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Author Biography

Gordon M. Burghardt is professor emeritus of Psychology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee. In a career of over 60 years he has studied communication, play, chemoreception, behavioral development, sociality, and ethological history, focussing mainly on nonavian reptiles. Website

DOI

10.51291/2377-7478.1878