W. Timberlake et Fj. Silva, OBSERVATION OF BEHAVIOR, INFERENCE OF FUNCTION, AND THE STUDY OF LEARNING, Psychonomic bulletin & review, 1(1), 1994, pp. 73-88
Before the present century, the primary means of studying animals was
observation of the form and effects of their behavior combined with pr
esumption of their intent. In the present century, ethologists continu
ed to emphasize observation of form and replaced presumption of intent
with the study of proximate function and evolution. In contrast, most
learning psychologists minimized both observation of form and presump
tion of intent by defining behavior in terms of simple environmental e
ffects and establishing intent by deprivation operations. We discuss a
dvantages of the use of observation in the study of learning, examine
arguments that it is unnecessary, irrelevant, and unscientific, and co
nsider some practical considerations in using observation. We conclude
that observation of the form of behavior and concern with its ecologi
cal function should be an important part of the arsenal of techniques
used to study learning.