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ANIMAL EDUCATION Most students dread the day where they must dissect an animal for biology class. Although the practice has become less common in schools, the discussion continues over whether the educational benefit of dissections outweighs the damaging effects on the development of empathy and compassion in children. In this preview from her upcoming book Why Children Need Animals, child psychiatrist Dr. Sujatha Ramakrishna discusses why animal dissections in schools and universities do more harm than good. — Global Animal February 28, 2012 Tazi Phillips
Recognizing that "Knowledge of the factors influencing attitudes toward animals has implications for prevention and intervention in cases of cruelty," researchers from Hofstra University and New York University examined how empathy and personality traits of 241 undergraduate students aged 18-46 affected their attitudes toward animals.. . The present study offers further evidence that empathy is a critical variable in both the understanding and treatment of animal abuse. Previous studies have shown high empathy among animal activists and low empathy in individuals who abuse animals. Here, using a general population (non-clinical and non-advocate) sample, the authors find that empathy (as distinguished from four other major personality variables) correlates with positive attitudes toward animals.
The MRI scans revealed that when observing animal or human suffering, the “empathy-related” areas of the brain are more active among vegetarians and vegans. The researchers also found that there are certain brain areas that only vegans and vegetarians seem to activate when witnessing suffering. So, could it be that your deer-hunting cousin or that woman at the store with the fur-trimmed jacket is just not smart enough to see that animals feel pain every bit as acutely, love their young every bit as deeply and long for freedom every bit as intensely as we do? Maybe. But I like to think that such people just haven’t been given the tools they need to make a compassionate choice. As celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says, perhaps “part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, it were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.”’
When Occupy Wall Street and similar protests played out over the past year, the phenomenon looked familiar to Emory University primatologist Frans de Waal: He's seen similar moral outrage over economic inequity expressed by monkeys and chimps. All this meshes with the message of de Waal's latest book, "The Age of Empathy."... Here are a few more nuggets from de Waal's lecture and news briefing in Vancouver: Empathy — the ability to share an emotional connection with other individuals — isn't unique to humans. But humans, like many other species, make a distinction between in-group and out-group connections. Having a sense of empathy for people beyond our "in-group," however that's defined, may be a "fragile experiment" being conducted by our species, de Waal said. By Alan Boyle More about Frans de Waal at
http://bit.ly/jn2OTe
Marine biologists and philosophers have joined forces to support a controversial declaration of rights for whales and dolphins on the grounds that their astonishing intelligence and emotional empathy puts them on a par with humans. Research into the complex behaviour of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – is revealing that these sea mammals are so highly evolved and complex in terms of their behaviour that they deserve special protection with a universal bill of rights, they said. img http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale
Researchers at the U.K.'s University of Bristol have found that chickens seem to only show empathetic feelings towards their own chicks, but not other adult chickens in their peer group. The research followed an earlier study in which researchers discovered the chickens experience physiological stress when they observe their chicks experience uncomfortable scenarios.
It can be a humbling time to be a Homo sapiens — or at least a vain Homo sapiens. As the planet’s reigning species, we’ve lost count of all of the remarkable abilities we possess that elevate us above the other beasts — language, tool use, empathy, arithmetics. The problem is, the more closely evolutionary biologists study animals, the more they discover that at least some nonhuman species exhibit the very same talents, even if in a rudimentary way. By JEFFREY KLUGER
When our apemen ancestors began to interact with animals they developed empathy and the ability to communicate, claims anthropologist Pat Shipman... Interacting with animals on an intimate basis led humans to develop sophisticated tools and evolve enhanced communication skills, including language itself, Dr Pat Shipman of Pennsylvania State University told the Observer. Animals also taught us that others – even other species – have emotions, needs and thoughts, while they also helped us to evolve the vital skills of empathy, understanding and compromise. by Robin McKie
Studies show that rats have empathy. Empathy in Rats
Audio: Groks Science Show (January 11, 2012)
Empathic motivations for pro-social behaviours are unique to humans... or are they? Dr. Peggy Mason joins us to discuss empathy and pro-social behaviour in rats.
http://www.archive.org/details/groks511
from the video interview:
Edwin: I'm looking at How do we build a culture of empathy and compassion in the largest sence? It seems that looking at how do we have empathy and compassion for animals is a part of that. Do you have thoughts about How we can go about building a culture of empathy?
Marc: I think about that a lot, in fact a book that I just sent off that will be out next year called, "Ignoring Nature No More: The Case for Compassionate Conservation". I see a lots of ways that we can build a culture of empathy, and given my own interests I see "Compassionate Conservation" as being almost like a social movement. It's acting like a collective, people with common interests to pursue them and to pursue them and act on their feelings of empathy, if you will. It's really hard to find people who don't empathize with animals or care about animals.
explain to people - show them by example how empathy and compassion can be cased out in terms of actions for animals.
Empathy: the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings (such as sadness or happiness) that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being.
Ahh, but empathy has many different meanings. I always thought it was having compassion for someone else but that is only a fraction of what the word can actually mean. Here are some others: The capacity to know emotionally what another is feeling; The ability to understand and share the feelings of another; Knowing another persons internal state, including thoughts and feelings; adopting the posture or matching the neural responses of an observed other; Imagining how another is feeling; Feeling distress at witnessing another person's suffering.
Famed astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the human-animal connection from a scientific standpoint...... Dr. Tyson also sat down for an interview with PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk to discuss everything from the importance of instilling empathy in children to how observing dogs in his childhood helped him develop his critical thinking skills. "Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth," says Dr. Tyson. "So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'"
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The majority of research investigating beliefs toward nonhuman animals has focused on vivisection or utilized populations with clear views on animal issues (e.g., animal rights activists). Minimal research has been conducted on what personality factors influence a nonclinical or nonadjudicated population's beliefs about the treatment of animals. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of empathy and personality traits in attitudes about the treatment of animals in 241 undergraduate students. Results indicated that those with high levels of empathy held more positive attitudes toward animals and more negative beliefs about animal cruelty than those with low levels of empathy. Some differences in participants' specific attitudes toward animals were found. Limitations and implications for future research are reviewed. Authors: Eckardt Erlanger, Ann C.; Tsytsarev, Sergei V.
New research shows there is a biological basis for co-operative and empathetic behaviour. "Darwin was much smarter than most of his followers," said de Waal, quoting from Darwin's The Descent of Man that animals that developed "well-marked social instincts would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience". De Waal showed the audience videos from laboratories revealing the dramatic emotional distress of a monkey denied a treat that another monkey received; and of a rat giving up chocolate in order to help another rat escape from a trap. Such research shows that animals naturally have pro-social tendencies for "reciprocity, fairness, empathy and consolation," said de Waal. "Human morality is unthinkable without empathy." More about Frans de Waal at
http://bit.ly/jn2OTe
A newly published study suggests empathy plays a role in the helping behavior of rats.
In the experiment, when two rats were placed in a cage and one was restrained in a compartment inside the cage, the free rat kept trying until she learned how to open the door to the compartment and free the trapped rat...
Six out of six female rats became door-openers for trapped cage mates, compared to 17 of 24 male rats, which is consistent with the idea that females in general tend to be more empathetic than males.
Humans are not as competitive, aggressive and brutish as early theories suggest, according to new research... During his address, Dr de Waal showed the audience videos from laboratories revealing the emotional distress of a monkey denied a treat that another monkey received, and of a rat giving up chocolate in order to help another rat escape from a trap. "Human morality is unthinkable without empathy," he said. But he told reporters the research also shows animals bestow their empathy on animals they are familiar with in their "in-group", and said that natural tendency posed a challenge in a globalised human world. More about Frans de Waal at
http://bit.ly/jn2OTe
There may be cognitive limits in the ability to take the perspective of others,” explains Hodson. In other words, the less intelligent you are, the harder it may be for you to put yourself in another’s shoes — and the more likely you are to hold prejudiced beliefs about other groups. If someone is unmoved by the plight of elephants shackled, beaten and forced to perform in circuses or of animals poisoned and blinded in laboratories, perhaps they similarly lack the ability to consider the animals’ point of view. The anecdotal evidence linking intelligence and empathy for animals is certainly intriguing. Some of the world’s greatest minds from throughout history — including Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Mohandas Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy — have been vegetarian.
The “mirror test” was invented about 40 years ago as a means to determine whether or not a creature possesses self-awareness.... Animals that generally, but not always, pass the mirror test include the great apes: bonobos, chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas; bottlenose dolphins and orcas; elephants; and European magpies. Human babies begin to pass the test at around 18 months or two years. Such supposedly smart creatures as dogs and cats routinely fail the test, however... Meanwhile, researchers applied color to the foreheads of three elephants at a sanctuary in Thailand, and watched what happened when they looked in a mirror. These are highly self-aware animals, as shown by such behavior as displays of altruism and empathy. by Barry Evans
By setting up a unique experiment, a small team of researchers has found that chimpanzees are able to understand need in other chimps, despite their general disinclination to offer aid when they see it. Shinya Yamamotoa, Tatyana Humleb, and Masayuki Tanakac set up a way to test their idea that chimps are able to understand some part of what is going on in the minds of others around them, and as they describe in their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they found a way to demonstrate it.
The dogs are trained by the teens in the alternative schools, but these service dogs are specially trained to pull wheelchairs, open and close doors and prevent overcrowding in public—this is important for someone with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). By Debbi Morello
Via Eileen Smith Anglin
Morality is hardwired into animals. More on Frans De Waal http://bit.ly/jn2OTe How can we build a culture of empathy?
I think it is important in society, especially at the moment. Now that we have come out of this period where greed was so good. I think it is important to emphasize that there are alternative ways of looking at society. A society where solidarity is important and caring about others is important.
The other things, that I'm not an expert on, is education and culture of course. A cultural and educational change that emphasizes empathy more. I would also warn that empathy is not invariably positive. People think that empathy is automatically a positive characteristic. Empathy can be used for bad purposes also.
Non-humans are predominantly peaceful beings despite media hype to the contrary By Marc Bekoff... When we say to someone, "Oh, you're behaving like an animal" it's actually a complement rather than an insult. We need to work for a science of peace and build a culture of empathy, and emphasize the postiive, prosocial (voluntary behavior to benefit another), side of the character of other animals and ourselves. It's truly who we and other animals are.
Ethics must be firmly implanted in conservation biology By Marc Bekoff... http://www.compassionateconservation.org A forward-looking and long overdue symposium called Compassionate Conservation will be held from September 1 - 3, 2010 in Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford. The meeting, sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and the Born Free Foundation, will focus on major themes including animal welfare and the conservation of wild animals, captive animal welfare and conservation, conservation consequences of wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release, and the international trade in live wild animals.... When we close our hearts to animal sentience, we ignore and violate nature. Conservation biologists like to talk about re-wilding nature and building corridors through which animals can move undisturbed. Compassionate conservation will help us re-wild our hearts and build corridors of compassion and coexistence where we can all travel together. by Marc Bekoff
Our proven-effective and evidence-based program is an in-depth and interactive approach to: Empathy Education Healing Species is the first student intervention program in the nation addressing issues of the heart to overcome violence, bullying and crime – with the assistance of rescued dogs – dogs nobody else wanted. Healing Species is the “first of its kind” and paving a new standard among results-oriented programming.
The Healing Species reaches children and teens with a message of hope and healing. Even children who have never been nurtured can learn how to heal and then nurture others, thus intercepting the cycle of cruelty, abuse, and neglect.
Students learn life skills in self-esteem, conflict resolution, anger management, empathy, and respect for all life.
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