A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where Have All the Undergraduates Gone? Additional Comments,

Abstract

This article identifies what I believe is a crisis in comparative psychology: the need to recruit undergraduates as the next generation of comparative psychologists. Issues to be addressed include the lack of graduate programs, only a single currently available comparative textbook, few undergraduate courses in comparative psychology, and the portrayal of comparative psychology in introductory psychology texts. Suggestions to help increase undergraduate interest in comparative psychology involve: recognition that comparative psychology is more than the study of animal behavior, that comparative psychology teaches broad-based research and critical thinking skills that can be used not only to further educational opportunities but also be useful for students who would like to directly go into business, encouraging students to create their own undergraduate major with a focus on comparative psychology, development of on-line courses, promotion of comparative-based teaching exercises, and using a track system to develop graduate programs in comparative psychology.