?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Cognitive+Ethology%3A+Slayers%2C+Skeptics%2C+and+Proponents&rft.creator=Bekoff%2C+M&rft.creator=Allen%2C+C&rft.subject=Ethology&rft.description=In+this+paper+we+identify+three+major+groups+of+people+(among+some+of+whose+members+there+are+blurred+distinctions)+with+different+views+on+cognitive+ethology%2C+namely%2C+slayers%2C+skeptics%2C+and+proponents.++Our+analyses+are+based+on+our+reading+of+some+published+reviews+of+Donald+Griffin's+works+in+cognitive+ethology+and+other+clearly+stated+opinions+concerning+animal+cognition%2C+in+the+sense+of+attribution+of+mental+states+and+properties+such+as+beliefs%2C+awareness%2C+and+consciousness.+Slayers+Slayers+deny+any+possibility+of+success+in+cognitive+ethology.+In+our+analyses+of+their+published+statements%2C+we+have+found+that+they+sometimes+conflate+the+difficulty+of+doing+rigorous+cognitive+ethological+investigations+with+the+impossibility+of+doing+so.++Slayers+also+often+ignore+specific+details+of+work+by+cognitive+ethologists+and+frequently+mount+philosophically+motivated+objections+to+the+possibility+of+learning+anything+about+animal+cognition.++Slayers+do+not+believe+that+cognitive+ethological+approaches+can+lead%2C+and+have+lead%2C+to+new+and+testable+hypotheses.++They+often+pick+out+the+most+difficult+and+least+accessible+phenomena+to+study+(e.g.+consciousness)+and+then+conclude+that+because+we+can+gain+little+detailed+knowledge+about+this+subject%2C+we+cannot+do+better+in+other+areas.++Slayers+also+appeal+to+parsimony+in+explanations+of+animal+behavior%2C+but+they+dismiss+the+possibility+that+cognitive+explanations+can+be+more+parsimonious+than+noncognitive+alternatives%2C+and+they+deny+the+utility+of+cognitive+hypotheses+for+directing+empirical+research.+Skeptics+Skeptics+are+often+difficult+to+categorize.++They+are+a+bit+more+open-minded+than+slayers%2C+and+there+seems+to+be+greater+variation+among+skeptical+views+of+cognitive+ethology+than+among+slayers'+opinions.+However%2C+some+skeptics+recognize+some+past+and+present+successes+in+cognitive+ethology%2C+and+remain+cautiously+optimistic+about+future+successes%3B+in+these+instances+they+resemble+moderate+proponents.++Many+skeptics+appeal+to+the+future+of+neuroscience%2C+and+claim+that+when+we+know+all+there+is+to+know+about+nervous+systems%2C+cognitive+ethology+will+be+superfluous+(Bekoff%2C+1993a%3B+it+should+be+noted+that+Griffin%2C+1992+also+makes+strong+appeals+to+neuroscience%2C+but+he+does+not+believe+that+increased+knowledge+in+neurobiology+will+cause+cognitive+ethology+to+disappear).++Like+slayers%2C+skeptics+frequently+conflate+the+difficulty+of+doing+rigorous+cognitive+ethological+investigations+with+the+impossibility+of+doing+so.++Skeptics+also+find+folk+psychological%2C+anthropomorphic%2C+and+cognitive+explanations+to+be+off-putting.+Proponents+Proponents+recognize+the+utility+of+cognitive+ethological+investigations.++They+claim+that+there+are+already+many+successes+and+they+see+that+cognitive+ethological+approaches+have+provided+new+and+interesting+data+that+also+can+inform+and+motivate+further+study.+Proponents+also+accept+the+cautious+use+of+folk+psychological+and+cognitive+explanations+to+build+a+systematic+explanatory+framework+in+conjunction+with+empirical+studies%2C+and+do+not+find+anecdotes+or+anthropomorphism+to+be+thoroughly+off-putting.++Some+proponents+are+as+extreme+in+their+advocacy+of+cognitive+ethology+as+some+slayers+are+in+their+opposition.++But+most+proponents+are+willing+to+be+critical+of+cognitive+ethological+research+without+dooming+the+field+prematurely%3B+if+cognitive+ethology+is+to+die%2C+it+will+be+of+natural+causes+and+not+as+a+result+of+hasty+slayings.+&rft.publisher=SUNY+Press%2C+Albany%2C+New+York&rft.date=1997&rft.type=Book+Chapter&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F160%2F1%2F199709005.html&rft.identifier=++Bekoff%2C+M+and+Allen%2C+C++(1997)+Cognitive+Ethology%3A+Slayers%2C+Skeptics%2C+and+Proponents.++%5BBook+Chapter%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F160%2F