Triumph and tribulation in the history of American comparative psychology.

The accomplishments of the last 100 years of American comparative psychology have been exemplary. However, throughout this time the status of comparative psychology has been ambiguous. It has been the study of nonhumans in a science of human behavior and mind and thus peripheral to the main endeavor. The need for special resources, unique problems caused by work with animals, and frequent problems of job availability affected the development of the field. The accomplishments of comparative psychology have been achieved in spite of a substantial and continuous loss of young scientists initially attracted to the field but unable to sustain careers in comparative psychology