Theodore Christian SchneirlaDied 20 Aug 1968 at age 66 (born 23 Jul 1902).Theodore Christian Schneirla was the foremost American comparative psychologist of the mid-1900's (the American Museum of Natural History) whose empirical work was based on observations on the behaviour patterns of army ants. He went so far in his "biphasic A-W theory" as to reduce all behavior to two simple responses: approach and withdrawal. We approach what causes pleasure, and we withdraw from what causes unpleasure or pain. His Principles of Animal Psychology (1935, with N. R. F. Maier) was the leading text in its field. |
