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Sex and Behavior pp 83–112Cite as

The Comparative Method in Studies of Reproductive Behavior

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Abstract

In “The Snark was a Boojum,” Frank Beach did a masterful job of providing a retrospective view of the utilization of the comparative method in psychology. Over the course of this century, psychologists had come to concentrate their efforts on a few species of mammals, especially albino rats. Beach uttered a plea for increased utilization of the comparative method in the study of an increased variety of behavioral patterns. Since publication of the “Snark” paper in 1950, albino rats have remained the animals of choice for the vast majority of experiments. However, the Comparative Psychologist has yet to suddenly and softly vanish away. Beach was correct in his perception of the advantages of the comparative method. It is indeed a method possessing enormous power in the approach to a broad range of behavioral questions. That the Comparative Psychologist is still on the scene as in part attributable to “The Snark was a Boojum,” a paper that has had a major influence on the decisions of a considerable number of behavioral scientists to pursue comparative study.

Thirty years ago in this country a small group of scientists went Snark hunting. It is convenient to personify them collectively in one imaginary individual who shall be called the Comparative Psychologist. The Comparative Psychologist was hunting a Snark known as Animal Behavior. His techniques were different from those used by the Baker, but he came to the same unhappy end, for his Snark also proved to be a Boojum. Instead of animals in the generic sense he found one animal, the albino rat, and thereupon the Comparative Psychologist suddenly and softly vanished away.

F. A. Beach (1950, p. 115)

Supported by Grant No. BMS75-08658 from the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Donald A. Dewsbury

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  1. Donald A. Dewsbury
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA

    Thomas E. McGill

  2. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Donald A. Dewsbury

  3. University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

    Benjamin D. Sachs

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Dewsbury, D.A. (1978). The Comparative Method in Studies of Reproductive Behavior. In: McGill, T.E., Dewsbury, D.A., Sachs, B.D. (eds) Sex and Behavior. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0421-8_4

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