Commentary "A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where have all the Undergraduates Gone?" Collaborating with Behavior Analysts Could Avert a Crisis in Comparative Psychology

Abstract

Abramson's crisis is that, due to lack of interest and opportunities, psychology undergraduates are not pursuing advanced study in comparative psychology at a rate sufficient to sustain it as a discipline. However, what Abramson has not considered is that strictly behavioral comparative research happens frequently in psychology departments under the label "behavior analysis." This work is of high quality, frequently relates animal research to human behavior, and is broadly compatible with comparative cognition in spite of conflicting theoretical attitudes. Fostering communication and collaboration between behavior analysts, comparative cognition researchers, and traditional comparative psychologists is another way to avert the crisis of missing undergraduates in comparative psychology, both by tapping a group of undergraduates with established interests in behavior principles and by widening the base of active researchers in comparative psychology who can serve as potential supervisors to the next generation of comparative psychologists.