COMPARATIVE COGNITION - TOWARD A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF COGNITION IN BEHAVIOR

Human and nonhuman animals alike must adjust to complex and ever-chang ing circumstances if they are to survive and reproduce. Advanced neura l mechanisms enable animals to remember the past, to act in the presen t, and to plan for the future. Exploring the species generality of cog nitive processes in behavior is central to the field of comparative co gnition. A comparative perspective may not only broaden but also deepe n our understanding of cognition-both in human and in nonhuman animals .