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Beyond the Instinct Debate: Daniel Lehrman’s Contributions to Animal Behavior Studies

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Abstract

This paper examines the contributions of Daniel S. Lehrman (1919–1972) to animal behavior studies. Though widely cited as a critic of the early ethological program presented by Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen, other significant aspects of Lehrman’s career and research have not received historical attention. In this paper, I offer a fuller account of Lehrman’s work by situating his debate with ethologists within the larger context of Lehrman’s early scholarly development under G. K. Noble and T. C. Schneirla, by examining his scientific research on the ring-dove as well as his epistemological views about the best way to understand animal behaviour, and by presenting his leadership in institution and network-building of interdisciplinary approaches to animal behavior. This essay highlights Lehrman’s impact on the evolution of ethology, endocrinology, and developmental biology.

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Notes

  1. William S. Verplanck to Frank Beach, 26 March 1954; Verplanck to Niko Tinbergen, 25 March 1954, Verplanck Papers. Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP). Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology. The University of Akron, OH. Hereafter cited as: Verplanck Papers.

  2. For biographical information, see Rosenblatt (1995). On his home situation, see letter from Libbie Hyman to W.C. Allee, 13 December 1939, W.C. Allee Papers. University of Chicago Library, Chicago, IL. Hereafter cited as: Allee Papers. I am grateful to Richard Burkhardt for making the letter available to me.

  3. On animal behavior at the American Museum, and Noble in particular, see Burkhardt (2005), Milam (2010), Mitman (1993, 1999), Mitman and Burkhardt (1991), and Myers (2000).

  4. On the development of ethology, see Burkhardt (2005), Dewsbury (1989), and Dewsbury (1997). On Lorenz’s concept of instinct, see Brigandt (2005). On Tinbergen’s views on instinct, see Beer (2020). For a biography of Lorenz, see Taschwer and Föger (2003). For a biography of Tinbergen, see Kruuk (2004). On Tinbergen’s views about human behavior, see Vicedo (2018a, b).

  5. G.K. Noble to Lorenz, 26 July 1936; Noble to Nice, 24 October 1938; Noble to Nice, 18 November 1938, G.K. Noble Collection, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY. Hereafter cited as: Noble Papers. On Noble’s discussions with Nice, see Burkhardt (2005, p. 181).

  6. Lehrman to Noble, 12 June 1938, Noble Papers. Folder: L-Miscel. Scientists. Small folder: “Lehrman, David S.” These letters are filed under the name David S. Lehrman, but they are clearly by Daniel S. Lehrman.

  7. Libbie Hyman to W. C. Allee, 13 November 1939, Allee Papers.

  8. Hyman to Allee, 13 December 1939, Box 18, Folder 16, Allee Papers.

  9. Lehrman to Joe [Hickey], 2 July 1945, Annette L. Flugger Papers, CONS33, Conservation Collection. Box 1 FF 19. Correspondence with D.S. Lehrman. The Denver Public Library. Denver, CO. Hereafter cited as: Flugger Papers.

  10. Lehrman to William Vogt, 29 November 1944, Box 1, William Vogt Papers, CONS76, Conservation Collection, Box 1, The Denver Public Library. Denver, CO.

  11. On Schneirla’s life and work, see Tobach and Aronson (1971), and Topoff (1971).

  12. Announcement for the talk can be found at the American Museum of Natural History Library, New York City, NY. Folder L Animal Behavior, Department of -Lehrman, Daniel (1267).

  13. B. H. Willier to Lehrman, 11 March 1953, Lehrman Papers, Institute of Animal Behavior. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ. Hereafter cited as: Lehrman Papers.

  14. Lehrman to B. H. Willier, 16 March 1953; Lehrman to Willier, 19 March 1953, Lehrman Papers. Hinde (1990, p. 555), mentions that Lehrman was asked to tone down the criticisms of Lorenz’s political views by Mayr and Beach. Rosenblatt (1995, p. 235), notes that Lehrman was asked to reduce this material by Karl Lashley, Hans-Lukas Teuber, and Donald Hebb. I have not been able to find a copy of Lehrman’s original paper. It is clear from archival documents that Mayr did not read Lehrman’s piece prior to its publication (see letter from Verplanck to Tinbergen, 3 March 1954, Verplanck papers). Hebb read it and asked for some revisions, but he did not ask Lehrman to cut the criticism of Lorenz’s political views. See D. O. Hebb to Daniel S. Lehrman, 30 September 1949; Lehrman to Hebb, 16 January 1950; Lehrman to Hebb, 12 August 1952; Hebb to Lehrman, 25 August 1952, all in D. O. Hebb Papers. McGill University Archives, Montreal. Hereafter cited as: Hebb Papers.

  15. On Lorenz’s relation with the Nazis, see Taschwer and Föger (2003), Burkhardt (2005), Deichmann (1996), and Kalikow (2020). On Lehrman’s critique, see Kruuk (2004, pp. 178–184), and Burkhardt (2005, pp. 384–403).

  16. B. H. Willier to Lehrman, 11 March 1953, Lehrman Papers. Ernst Mayr to Frank Beach, 20 February 1973. Folder B, 1972–1973, Ernst Mayr Papers. Harvard University Archives. Cambridge, MA. Hereafter cited as: Mayr Papers.

  17. Lorenz to his mentor Erwin Stresemann, 11 April 1938, cited in Burkhardt (2005, p. 240).

  18. Lehrman to Hickey, 2 July 1945, Flugger Papers.

  19. Ernst Mayr to Niko Tinbergen, 19 May 1953, Folder: Tinbergen, Niko. 1953–1954, Mayr Papers. Mayr to Tinbergen, 23 February 1954, HUGFP 74.7 B2 Folder 547, Mayr Papers.

  20. Mayr to Hutchinson, 5 March 1954, quoted in Grodwohl (2019, p. 604, n.3).

  21. Tinbergen to Mayr, 23 March 1954, Folder T.N. 1953–1954, Mayr Papers.

  22. Verplanck to Beach, 26 March 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  23. Verplanck to Tinbergen, 9 December 1953, Verplanck Papers.

  24. Verplanck to Beach, 19 March 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  25. Verplanck to Tinbergen, 29 March 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  26. Verplanck to Lorenz, 30 March 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  27. Lorenz to Verplanck, 12 April 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  28. Verplanck to Lorenz, 30 April 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  29. Tinbergen to Verplanck, 20 July 1954, Verplanck Papers.

  30. Tinbergen to Robert Hinde, 14 October 1954, Robert Hinde Papers. Personal Collection. St. John's College. Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.

  31. Lorenz to William Thorpe, 11 March 1995. Cited by Burkhardt (2005, p. 402).

  32. Frank Beach to Lehrman and Tinbergen, 8 May 1956; Lehrman to Beach, 7 June 1956; Beach to Hinde, Lehrman, and Tinbergen, 9 July 1956; Lehrman to Beach, 31 August 1956, Lehrman Papers.

  33. One-page typed list of conference program in Lehrman Papers.

  34. For correspondence on the establishment of the Institute, see Records of the Rutgers University Office of Vice Provost and Dean of the University (Albert E. Meder) (RG15), Subject Files, 1933–1968, Animal Behavior Institute for, 1959. Box 1, folder 11. Rutgers University Archives.

  35. On Lehrman’s contributions to training and mentoring young researchers, see Beach (1973), and Beer et al. (1986).

  36. These results about the significant impact of even scant experience on parental care are similar to those obtained by Harry Harlow with rhesus monkeys. On Harlow’s research, see Vicedo (2013).

  37. On letter to Mayr, see footnote 21. Tinbergen had written to Lorenz [31 January 1961, cited by Burkhardt (2005, p. 430)]: “All this would be merely squibbling about words, if it had not an effect on research. It cannot be denied that our former attitude made us far too glib in assuming that species-specific behaviour characters were innate, and that systematic ontogeny studies began only under the spur of American criticism.”.

  38. Lorenz to Eckhard Hess, 8 July 1970, Konrad Lorenz Papers. Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research. Altenberg, Austria. In response to a similar comment, Mayr told Lorenz: “… your comment about an ‘infectious disease’ misses the point. I am personally very fond of Dannie Lehrman and I think he and his students do excellent work. However, it is not ethology.” Mayr to Lorenz, 18 April 1972, Lorenz Papers.

  39. Niko Tinbergen to Ernst Mayr, 5 September 1973, Folder: Tin, N. 70–74, HUG FP 14.17, Mayr Papers.

  40. See Gräfe and Stuhrmann (2022), and Tang-Martínez (2020) for papers showing the variety of approaches and the diverse trajectories of studies of animal behavior after World War II.

Archival Collections

  • American Museum of Natural History Library, New York City, NY.

  • Annette L. Flugger Papers, Conservation Collection. The Denver Public Library. Denver, CO.

  • Daniel S. Lehrman Papers. Institute of Animal Behavior. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.

  • Donald O. Hebb Papers. McGill University Archives, Montreal.

  • Ernst Mayr Papers. Harvard University Archives. Cambridge, MA.

  • Frank Beach Papers. The Archives of the History of American Psychology, Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology. Akron, OH.

  • G. Noble Papers. American Museum of Natural History. New York, NY.

  • Konrad Z. Lorenz Papers. Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research. Altenberg, Austria.

  • Nikolaas Tinbergen Papers. Oxford University. Bodleian Library, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts. Oxford, England.

  • Records of the Rutgers University Office of Vice Provost and Dean of the University (Albert E. Meder) (RG15), Subject Files, 1933–1968, Rutgers University Archives.

  • Robert Hinde Papers. Personal Collection. St. John's College. Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.

  • Theodore C. Schneirla Papers. The Archives of the History of American Psychology. Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, Akron, OH.

  • Warder Clyde Allee Papers. University of Chicago Library, Chicago, IL.

  • William S. Verplanck Papers. Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP). Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology. The University of Akron, OH.

  • William Vogt Papers, Conservation Collection, The Denver Public Library. Denver, CO.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Richard W. Burkhardt, Juan Ilerbaig, Mark Solovey, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions to improve this paper. My earlier writings in this area benefitted greatly from comments provided by Jay Rosenblatt and Colin Beer, and from interviews with Rosenblatt and Robert Hinde. I thank them for their time and kindness. Finally, I thank Karen A. Rader, Marsha Richmond, and Nicolas Rasmussen for their support and their work for the journal.

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Vicedo, M. Beyond the Instinct Debate: Daniel Lehrman’s Contributions to Animal Behavior Studies. J Hist Biol 56, 251–284 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-023-09706-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-023-09706-y

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