Morgan's canon

proper noun

A fundamental precept of comparative animal psychology, stating that an animal's activity should not be interpreted in terms of higher psychological processes if it can be fairly interpreted in terms of simpler developmental processes.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun
  1. biologyA fundamental precept of comparative animal psychology, stating that an animal's activity should not be interpreted in terms of higher psychological processes if it can be fairly interpreted in terms of simpler developmental processes.

Origin

Proposed by the 19th-century British psychologist C. Lloyd Morgan.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Morgan's canon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Morgan's%20canon

MLA

“Morgan's canon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Morgan's%20canon. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Morgan's canon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Morgan's%20canon.

Source: Morgan's canon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.