tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post111122332551219673..comments2024-03-08T04:09:09.836-06:00Comments on Mixing Memory: Are Octopi More Neurotic Than Hyenas? Social Psychologists InvestigateChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08417970139690159046noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post-1111450265562527822005-03-21T18:11:00.000-06:002005-03-21T18:11:00.000-06:00The question of anthropomorphism (some see it more...The question of anthropomorphism (some see it more like a threat) is a hangover from older religious worldviews which posited a separation between the essence (soul) of men and women, and the rest of earthly creation, which had no soul.<BR/><BR/>Therefore, the question is not whether a view should be suspect for its anthropomorphism, but whether the very idea that human cognition is NOT based on evolutionary precursors, which are abundant, should be the worldview under suspicion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post-1111369103608376452005-03-20T19:38:00.000-06:002005-03-20T19:38:00.000-06:00Hyenas and octopi are definitely sexy!I wonder why...Hyenas and octopi are definitely sexy!<BR/><BR/>I wonder why PZ never wrote about the octopi paper....Bora Zivkovichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10763808287050592569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post-1111365959964363272005-03-20T18:45:00.000-06:002005-03-20T18:45:00.000-06:00coturnix, I consider it to be part of the personal...coturnix, I consider it to be part of the personality psych literature, really, which tends to fall into two categories, social psychology or individual differences. This isn't really individual differences research, and since the author is a social psychologist, and is using the personality dimensions that social psychologists use, that's how I classified it. Besides, it's "sexy."Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08417970139690159046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post-1111361359007947452005-03-20T17:29:00.000-06:002005-03-20T17:29:00.000-06:00I prefer 'octopi', with the stress on 'pi'.I have,...I prefer 'octopi', with the stress on 'pi'.<BR/><BR/>I have, for a long time, thought very highly of both classical and recent findings of developmental, physiological, behavioral and cognitive psychology. Clinical and industrial psychology are also good, as they are immediately tested in the real world. But I always thought of social/cultural psychology as a bunch of "unwarranted leaps of imagination while interpreting invalid analysis of iffy data collected from ill-designed questionnaires". You know what I think of evolutionary psychology.<BR/><BR/>But, when I read your post, I had a big attack of internal dissonance. The studies you cite are not, in my world, social/cultural psychology. I would have never thought of placing them in that "mental drawer" in my mind. Those are kinds of studies I am used to reading in journals like "Animal Behavior", "Animal Cognition", or "Ethology" - pure ethology! Just because the topic is "personality" does not make it, in my mind, social/cultural psychology. For me, only research on human populations counts there - the rest is animal behavoir.<BR/><BR/>Also, as I am used to reading this kind of stuff, I easily recognize "code words", and, almost without much thinking, am aware of the methodological (and interpretative) shortcomings of all such research, as do all the people in the field. We also recognize the strenghts, as well as caveats, and see the reason for doing such studies.<BR/><BR/>I used to be quite uncomfortable with "anthropomorphism" in animal behavior studies until I got an eye-opener when I read the book "Anthopomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals", edited by Mitchell, Thompson and Miles (SUNY Press). Since then, I can better understand the reasoning behind the apparently anthropomorphized studies.Bora Zivkovichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10763808287050592569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post-1111268647136877602005-03-19T15:44:00.000-06:002005-03-19T15:44:00.000-06:00It's either, according to my dictionary, and I thi...It's either, according to my dictionary, and I think octopi sounds funnier, and thus is a better fit with the research.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08417970139690159046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182098.post-1111244260145010802005-03-19T08:57:00.000-06:002005-03-19T08:57:00.000-06:00Okay, I'll read the actual post in a li'l while, b...Okay, I'll read the actual post in a li'l while, but first of all:<BR/><BR/>it's octopuses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com