Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Dogs And William MacDougall

One of William MacDougall’s famous and enduring quotes: “The healthy animal is up and doing.” Erich von Holst agreed.

In contrast, the behaviorist school contends that the animal is a machine: an input/ output mechanism of reflexes and conditioning. Unless you can understand the depth of the differences between those two positions, you can’t be a good student or teacher of animal behavior. 

A dog is more than a coin operated machine dependent upon what coin you put in it, and especially more than what can be made to happen in a scientific experiment.

Plan accordingly. 


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