ABSTRACT
Comparative psychology is a speciality area that not only greatly contributes to the relationship between psychology and the other sciences but also enables us to understand more fully those continua that unite species in terms of their anatomy, physiology, and behavior (Shaffer, 1983). It does so by study of the behavior of both our close and remote animal relatives and thus provides an intimate link between psychology and general biology—including paleontology. In this sense, comparative psychology is in the forefront of the battle to establish psychology as a natural science among the other natural sciences. Consequently, it behooves us to be familiar with the historical development of comparative psychology as an intellectual discipline, for one would expect indication of the path toward acceptance as a natural science because of the close relationship between it and the science of biology.
