Editing Ethology (section)

=== Social ethology ===

In 1972, the English ethologist John H. Crook distinguished comparative ethology from social ethology, and argued that much of the ethology that had existed so far was really comparative ethology—examining animals as individuals—whereas, in the future, ethologists would need to concentrate on the behaviour of social groups of animals and the social structure within them.<ref name="Crook Goss-Custard 1972 pp. 277–312">{{cite journal |last1=Crook |first1=John H. |last2=Goss-Custard |first2=J. D. |title=Social Ethology |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |volume=23 |issue=1 |year=1972 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ps.23.020172.001425 |pages=277–312}}</ref>

[[E. O. Wilson]]'s book ''[[Sociobiology: The New Synthesis]]'' appeared in 1975,<ref name=WilsonSociobiology/> and since that time, the study of behaviour has been much more concerned with social aspects. It has been driven by the Darwinism associated with Wilson, [[Robert Trivers]], and [[W. D. Hamilton]]. The related development of [[behavioural ecology]] has  helped transform ethology.<ref name="Davies2012" /> Furthermore, a substantial rapprochement with [[comparative psychology]] has occurred, so the modern scientific study of behaviour offers a spectrum of approaches. In 2020, Tobias Starzak and Albert Newen from the Institute of Philosophy II at the [[Ruhr University Bochum]] postulated that animals may have beliefs.<ref>{{cite news |title=What it means when animals have beliefs |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200617145957.htm |newspaper=ScienceDaily |date=17 June 2020 |access-date=18 June 2020}}</ref>