ABSTRACT
Jean Piaget's theoretical framework for human intelligence and its development came later to comparative animal psychology. The fact remains that animals with the sensorimotor organization that is closest to that of humans are the best candidates for comparative research. Piaget was frequently heard to say "Look, the cat's development is very quick, but its rapid process of acquisition is already over when human infants are only just beginning to develop their intelligence." Even though Piagetian theory was constructed to explain human developmental features, its biological roots and the specificity of its methods for studying nonverbal behaviors mean that it provides a suitable framework for investigating cognition in a comparative way. Piagetian approaches to animal cognition have been criticized on two principal counts: recapitulationism and anthropomorphism. The risk of anthropomorphism is increased by the naive and uncritical use of Piaget's concepts. All the main Piagetian concepts have been applied to animal cognition.
