comparative psychology

6.8

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

noun
/kəmˈpærətɪv saɪˈkɒlədʒi/

Specialized

: psicología comparativa

Many researchers focus on comparative psychologies to draw parallels with humans.

Examples

She is conducting research in comparative psychology to better understand how animals learn.
Many discoveries in comparative psychology have contributed to our knowledge of cognition.
Students interested in animal behavior often pursue courses in comparative psychology.
The study of comparative psychology helps us understand animal behavior.
Understanding comparative psychology allows researchers to analyze animal behavior in relation to human actions.
In comparative psychology, studies focus on how certain traits are shared between humans and animals.
The field of comparative psychology explores the cognitive processes of various species, providing insights into human psychology.

Synonyms

animal psychology

vscomparative psychology

Specialized

4.4

A study of how animals act and think

focuses on comparison with human behavior rather than study alone

Surface Forms

comparative psychology singular

comparative psychologies plural

Morphology

comparative + psychology

The compound is directly interpretable from its parts: 'comparative' (involving comparison) modifies 'psychology' (the study of mind/behavior), so a learner can infer it refers to psychology conducted by comparison (e.g. across species or contexts). This compositional pattern and cross-linguistic cognates (e.g. 'psychologie comparée', 'psicología comparada') make the meaning clear to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The term comparative psychology comes from scientists who put animals and people side by side to see and 'compare' how they act. The word comparative means 'to compare' and psychology means 'the study of mind or behavior', so the phrase means 'the study of animal behavior compared with humans'.