(1) Die tierischen Instinkte und ihr Umbau durch Erfahrung (2) Animal Behaviour

Abstract

DR. BIERENS DE HAAN'S book is well described by its extended title; it surveys the whole field of instinctive behaviour and its modification through learning, and constitutes an admirable introduction to the study of animal psychology. It is, as the author claims, the first general treatise on animal behaviour to be written from a purely psychological point of view. Dr. Bierens de Haan holds that the true science of animal psychology begins where behaviourism in its various forms leaves off; the facts of behaviour require interpretation in terms of the animal's subjective experience, in terms of knowing, striving and feeling, at least in their elementary forms. That instinctive behaviour is rooted in life, and cannot be understood without reference to the normal ecological conditions of the species the author freely admits; but he has concentrated his attention mainly on the psychological aspects of animal behaviour. That is the special key-note of the book. It is appropriately dedicated to the late Prof. Wm. McDougall, whose hormic point of view he shares.

(1) Die tierischen Instinkte und ihr Umbau durch Erfahrung

Eine Einführung in die allgemeine Tierpsychologie. Von J. A. Bierens de Haan. Pp. xi + 478. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, Ltd., 1940.) 8 guilders.

(2) Animal Behaviour

Impulse, Intelligence, Instinct. By Dr. Johann A. Loeser. Pp. x + 178. (London: Macmillan and Co, Ltd, 1940.) 10s. 6d. net