Dewsbury D A
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-2250, USA.
Behav Processes. 1999 Jul;46(3):189-99. doi: 10.1016/s0376-6357(99)00035-2.
The distinctions inherent in the proximate-ultimate dichotomy have a long history. I examined several issues related to this distinction. It is important that distinctions among different problem areas be made so that the type of answer presented in research in animal behavior is appropriate for the type of questions being asked. This may require more than the two-way distinction between the proximate and the ultimate. I suggest that such terms as 'function', 'ultimate', and 'ultimate causation' be re-evaluated. Methodological problems encountered when measuring differential adaptive consequences of alternative behavioral patterns and when using proximate stimulus control to infer adaptive significance require further consideration.
近端-终极二分法中固有的区别有着悠久的历史。我研究了与这种区别相关的几个问题。区分不同的问题领域很重要，这样动物行为研究中给出的答案类型才适合所提出问题的类型。这可能需要的不仅仅是近端和终极之间的二元区分。我建议重新评估诸如“功能”“终极”和“终极因果关系”等术语。在衡量替代行为模式的差异适应性后果以及使用近端刺激控制来推断适应性意义时遇到的方法论问题需要进一步考虑。
