Oswald Kohts

Oswald Kohts

Oswald Kohts, circa 1920

Born	(1884-03-15)15 March 1884
Birth place	Berlin, Germany
Died	22 November 1935(1935-11-22) (aged 51)
Place of death	Berlin, Germany
Nationality	German
Known for	Studies on animal behavior

Oswald Kohts (15 March 1884 – 22 November 1935) was a pioneering German psychologist and ethologist, known for his early work in the field of animal behavior and his contributions to the understanding of comparative psychology.

Early Life and Education

Oswald Kohts was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1884. He pursued his higher education at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he developed a keen interest in the study of animal behavior. Under the mentorship of Max Planck, Kohts completed his doctoral studies, focusing on the psychological processes of animals.

Career and Research

Kohts began his academic career at the University of Berlin, where he was appointed as a lecturer in psychology. His research primarily focused on the behavior of primates, and he was one of the first scientists to conduct systematic studies on chimpanzees and orangutans.

Kohts is best known for his work on the "mirror test," a method used to assess self-awareness in animals. His experiments with primates provided early evidence of self-recognition, a concept that has since become a fundamental aspect of cognitive ethology.

Contributions to Ethology

Kohts' work laid the groundwork for future studies in ethology, the scientific study of animal behavior. He was particularly interested in the emotional expressions of animals and their similarities to human emotions. His observations and recordings of primate behavior were pioneering at the time and influenced later researchers such as Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen.

Legacy

Although Kohts' career was cut short by his untimely death in 1935, his contributions to the field of animal behavior have had a lasting impact. His innovative methods and insights into animal psychology continue to be referenced in contemporary studies of animal cognition and behavior.

Also see

• Comparative psychology
• Ethology
• Animal cognition
• Mirror test
• Konrad Lorenz
• Niko Tinbergen