animal psychology

4.4

A study of how animals act and think

noun
/ˈænɪməl saɪˈkɒlədʒi/

Specialized

: psicología animal

Many universities offer courses in animal psychology.

Examples

Researchers in animal psychology analyze the behaviors of domestic pets to improve their well-being.
Research in animal psychology has provided insights into how animals solve problems.
She decided to specialize in animal psychology because she was fascinated by the ways dogs communicate.
Studies in animal psychology often involve observing animals in both wild and controlled settings.
The study of animal psychology is fascinating.
The study of animal psychology can reveal insights into how animals think and behave.
His work in animal psychology focuses on understanding the social structures of various species.

Synonyms

ethology

vsanimal psychology

Specialized

1 8.0

The study of how animals behave in nature

focuses also on internal mental processes and not only wild behaviour

comparative psychology

vsanimal psychology

Specialized

6.8

The study that looks at how animals behave and how this compares with people

focuses more on internal mental processes rather than comparisons with humans

Surface Forms

animal psychology singular

animal psychologies plural

Morphology

animal + psychology

The meaning is directly compositional: 'animal' (organism) + 'psychology' (study of mind/behavior) yields the study of animals' mental processes and behavior. This noun-noun formation follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Spanish 'psicología animal', French 'psychologie animale'), so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Animal psychology comes from the simple idea of watching animals to learn about their minds. The phrase joins animal, meaning a living creature, and psychology, meaning the 'study of the mind and behavior', so it means the scientific study of how animals think and act.