Ethology

Aspect of biology and experimental psychology which studies the behavior of animals in conditions of freedom or deprivation of it. It studies the behavioral differences of a particular group and how they change to achieve survival. Konrad Lorenz, the main reference in studies of ethology, analyzed the animal instinct concluding that the actions it triggers respond to two types of factors: Intrinsic or motivational: the interest in achieving the goal comes from within the animal itself, mainly from its physiological needs. Extrinsic: the motivation to achieve the goal is foreign to the interests of the animal. Starting in these studies, we have analyzed more complex behaviors, as well as mechanisms that enable learning, memory, etc. The human being has been frequently an object of study.