ABSTRACT
Ethology is often inappropriately distinguished from other behavioral sciences as the discipline committed to direct observation of naturally occurring behavior. The problem with such a distinction is most readily apparent in the field of child psychology, where a strong emphasis upon the description of natural developmental phenomena has had a long and important history (cf. M. Barker, 1930; R. G. Barker, 1965; Chittenden, 1942; Dawe, 1943; Emmerlich, 1964; Gellert, 1961, 1962; Piaget 1926, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954; Shirley, 1933; Washburn, 1932). To distinguish between ethologists’ and psychologists’ approaches to behavior, it is necessary to look beyond their common interest in natural phenomena. The different approaches to descriptive analysis in ethological research and in developmental psychology reflect a basic conceptual difference underlying psychological and ethological investigations. Many biologically oriented researchers actively engaged in the comparative study of behavior have emphasized these conceptual differences (Bateson & Hinde, 1976; Blurton Jones, 1972; Kummer, 1971; Tinbergen, 1963).
