ABSTRACT
A convenient point of departure for a consideration of the evidence in favour of cognition and imagery in animals is the controversy which existed in learning theory. At that time the view had emerged and, in the interest of scientific respectability for the new psychology, had gained wide acceptance, that behaviour was best explained solely in terms of observable stimulus and response events. A representational system need not be limited to relating a series of locations to each other in space but can operate upon behavioural and environmental events, organizing them in terms of the temporal and/or causal relationships which exist between them. An important part of the environment for the majority of animals consists of other animals, and salient characteristics of these other creatures are potentially available for inclusion into representational frameworks. Effective modelling of a social group should include a representation of the modeller himself as his own presence and actions affect group dynamics.
