Editing Animal cognition (section)

=== From anecdote to laboratory ===
{{See also|Comparative psychology}}

Speculation about animal intelligence gradually yielded to scientific study after [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] placed humans and animals on a continuum, although Darwin's largely anecdotal approach to the cognition topic would not pass scientific muster later on.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Darwin C | date = 1871 | title = The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex}}</ref> This method would be expanded by his protégé [[George Romanes|George J. Romanes]],<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Romanes JG | date = 1883 | title = Animal Intelligence}}</ref> who played a key role in the defense of [[Darwinism]] and its refinement over the years. Still, Romanes is most famous for two major flaws in his work: his focus on anecdotal observations and entrenched [[anthropomorphism]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Dewsbury D | date = 1978 | title = Comparative Animal Behavior | publisher = McGraw-Hill Book Company | location = New York, NY}}</ref> Unsatisfied with the previous approach, [[E. L. Thorndike]] brought animal behavior into the laboratory for objective scrutiny.  Thorndike's careful observations of the escape of cats, dogs, and chicks from puzzle boxes led him to conclude that what appears to the naive human observer to be intelligent behavior may be strictly attributable to simple associations.  According to Thorndike, using Morgan's Canon, the inference of animal reason, insight, or consciousness is unnecessary and misleading.<ref name="cats" />  At about the same time, [[I. P. Pavlov]] began his seminal studies of conditioned reflexes in dogs. Pavlov quickly abandoned attempts to infer canine mental processes; such attempts, he said, led only to disagreement and confusion. He was, however, willing to propose unseen physiological processes that might explain his observations.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Pavlov IP | date = 1928 | title = Lectures on conditioned reflexes}}</ref>