The document summarizes three studies that tested whether pro-social behavior in rats is motivated by empathy. Study I found that free rats opened the door to a restrainer containing a trapped cagemate more quickly than an empty restrainer. Study II showed that free rats stopped opening the door when the trapped rat could not make social contact. Study III found no difference in door opening times between a restrainer containing chocolate or a cagemate. The studies provide evidence that pro-social behavior in rats is motivated by a desire for social contact rather than empathy for the trapped rat's distress. However, later critiques of the studies note some limitations in their designs and analyses.
Part 2 of "Science & Sexuality." The most important sex organ is between your ears! The hypothalamus is an ancient brain area governing instinctive drives and behaviors. People are animals and sex is more ancient than people!
This document discusses the role of empathy in healthcare professionalism. It defines empathy as the ability to recognize and experience another person's feelings. Empathy is important for several reasons. It improves clinical outcomes for patients by reducing complications, improving control of conditions like diabetes, and reducing pain perceptions. It also increases patient satisfaction. However, empathy levels often decline during medical training as students are taught to be objective and not let emotions interfere. This can involve dehumanizing patients by reducing them to their illness or stripping away their uniqueness. The document argues empathy should be an essential part of professionalism in healthcare.
This document summarizes key concepts from Chapter 3 of Myers' Exploring Psychology (6th Ed) on the nature and nurture of behavior and gender. It discusses genes and chromosomes, evolutionary psychology, behavior genetics, environmental influences on development, and the interaction of biological and social factors in gender development. The chapter examines theories of how children learn gender roles through social learning, reward/punishment, and acquiring cultural schemas of masculinity and femininity.
Sexual reproduction increases genetic variation which enables evolutionary adaptations. Hormones communicate throughout the body, including sex hormones like androgens and estrogens. Sex hormones influence reproductive organs and behaviors through organizing and activating effects, and there are sensitive periods of development when hormones shape the brain and body. Differences exist between male and female anatomy, hormones, sexual behaviors, and cognitive abilities, which some evolutionary perspectives suggest relate to ancestral reproductive strategies.
O documento descreve a descoberta dos neurônios espelho em macacos e humanos. Estes neurônios disparam tanto quando realizamos uma ação quanto quando observamos outra pessoa realizando a mesma ação. Acredita-se que os neurônios espelho desempenham um papel importante na aprendizagem, empatia e desenvolvimento da linguagem e cultura humanas.
The document discusses sexual behavior in domestic animals. It covers physiological bases of sexual behavior, breeding strategies, seasonality, polygamous vs monogamous mating, and general aspects of precopulatory, copulatory, and postcopulatory behavior in males and females. Signs of estrus and receptive behavior in females vary between species but include changes in activity levels, interactions with other animals, and postures indicating receptivity to males.
La disfunción eréctil es un problema de salud pública que afecta la calidad de vida. Puede ser un indicador de enfermedades subyacentes como diabetes o hipertensión arterial. Existen factores de riesgo reversibles e irreversibles que deben identificarse para determinar el tratamiento apropiado.
Masterclass in University of Barcelona´s School of Medicine about Drugs in Sexual Medicine (erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and testosterone deficiency).
Part 2 of "Science & Sexuality." The most important sex organ is between your ears! The hypothalamus is an ancient brain area governing instinctive drives and behaviors. People are animals and sex is more ancient than people!
This document discusses the role of empathy in healthcare professionalism. It defines empathy as the ability to recognize and experience another person's feelings. Empathy is important for several reasons. It improves clinical outcomes for patients by reducing complications, improving control of conditions like diabetes, and reducing pain perceptions. It also increases patient satisfaction. However, empathy levels often decline during medical training as students are taught to be objective and not let emotions interfere. This can involve dehumanizing patients by reducing them to their illness or stripping away their uniqueness. The document argues empathy should be an essential part of professionalism in healthcare.
This document summarizes key concepts from Chapter 3 of Myers' Exploring Psychology (6th Ed) on the nature and nurture of behavior and gender. It discusses genes and chromosomes, evolutionary psychology, behavior genetics, environmental influences on development, and the interaction of biological and social factors in gender development. The chapter examines theories of how children learn gender roles through social learning, reward/punishment, and acquiring cultural schemas of masculinity and femininity.
Sexual reproduction increases genetic variation which enables evolutionary adaptations. Hormones communicate throughout the body, including sex hormones like androgens and estrogens. Sex hormones influence reproductive organs and behaviors through organizing and activating effects, and there are sensitive periods of development when hormones shape the brain and body. Differences exist between male and female anatomy, hormones, sexual behaviors, and cognitive abilities, which some evolutionary perspectives suggest relate to ancestral reproductive strategies.
O documento descreve a descoberta dos neurônios espelho em macacos e humanos. Estes neurônios disparam tanto quando realizamos uma ação quanto quando observamos outra pessoa realizando a mesma ação. Acredita-se que os neurônios espelho desempenham um papel importante na aprendizagem, empatia e desenvolvimento da linguagem e cultura humanas.
The document discusses sexual behavior in domestic animals. It covers physiological bases of sexual behavior, breeding strategies, seasonality, polygamous vs monogamous mating, and general aspects of precopulatory, copulatory, and postcopulatory behavior in males and females. Signs of estrus and receptive behavior in females vary between species but include changes in activity levels, interactions with other animals, and postures indicating receptivity to males.
La disfunción eréctil es un problema de salud pública que afecta la calidad de vida. Puede ser un indicador de enfermedades subyacentes como diabetes o hipertensión arterial. Existen factores de riesgo reversibles e irreversibles que deben identificarse para determinar el tratamiento apropiado.
Masterclass in University of Barcelona´s School of Medicine about Drugs in Sexual Medicine (erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and testosterone deficiency).
Las disfunciones sexuales ocurren cuando se altera la respuesta sexual normal y afectan la satisfacción sexual. Existen varios tipos como falta de deseo, excitación o problemas de erección. Las causas pueden ser físicas como bajos niveles hormonales o uso de drogas, o psicológicas como estrés o baja autoestima. El Viagra es un tratamiento común para la disfunción eréctil pero puede causar efectos secundarios transitorios como dolor de cabeza o alteraciones visuales. Se debe consultar a un médico antes de tomar
1) The study examined how oxytocin and dopamine influence sexual preference in female rats. It found that both oxytocin and dopamine are involved in forming partner preferences, with the nucleus accumbens playing an important role.
2) Tests showed that administering oxytocin or a dopamine agonist led to partner preferences, while blocking oxytocin or dopamine receptors prevented this. The two neurotransmitters seem to interact to regulate social bonding.
3) A further study determined that activating both oxytocin and dopamine D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens is essential for forming partner preferences in rats. This suggests the nucleus accumbens is an important brain area where oxytocin and dopamine interact to regulate pair
Empathic listening involves listening with the intent to understand how the speaker feels in addition to their ideas. It is an effective technique for emotional situations or conflicts as it allows the speaker to share feelings without judgment. To listen empathetically, reflect back the emotions and meaning perceived without questioning, judging or advising the speaker. The goal is to understand the other person's perspective.
El documento describe la fisiología de la erección y el mecanismo de acción del sildenafil (Viagra). La erección ocurre cuando la estimulación parasimpática causa la relajación del músculo liso vascular en los cuerpos cavernosos, aumentando el flujo sanguíneo. El sildenafil inhibe la fosfodiesterasa tipo 5, previniendo la degradación del GMPc y manteniendo la relajación del músculo liso para lograr una erección.
The document discusses animal behavior and its use as a screening tool in biomedical research. It defines animal behavior and describes ethology, the scientific study of animal behavior. It discusses pioneers in the field like Niko Tinbergen and covers different types of behaviors like feeding, social, and communicative behaviors. The document also discusses the nature vs nurture debate and different learning processes in animals. It describes using animal models to study behaviors related to pain, anxiety, depression, and other conditions to gain insights into human behaviors and disorders.
Reproductive behaviour: 1-Sexual behaviour in animalsrhfayed
Reproductive Behaviour involve behaviour patterns associated with courtship, copulation, birth, maternal care and with suckling attempts of newborn. It is species specific behaviour
Animal reproduction class presentation (ppt)antonievan
The document summarizes animal reproduction across multiple species. It describes the basic processes of copulation, fertilization, embryo development, and birth. It then provides detailed information on the male and female reproductive systems of various livestock, including their structures, functions, and the hormonal control of reproduction. Key aspects covered include the testes and ovaries, gamete production, role of hormones, gestation, and birth.
- Rats originated in Asia and spread to Europe through trade routes, with the brown rat colonizing worldwide.
- Laboratory rats descended from the brown rat and differ from wild rats in traits like smaller adrenals and earlier sexual maturity.
- Rats can be inbred strains or outbred stocks and show variability in biological parameters depending on their classification.
- Rats are nocturnal, non-aggressive, and easily trainable but improper handling can affect their behavior.
Rats display helping behaviors like opening doors to release trapped cagemates from restrainers. This study aims to investigate if rats are motivated by empathy or personal distress to help. Rats were tested in pairs, with one rat trapped in a restrainer with a modifiable door. The free rat's behavior was observed with or without an escape option. Preliminary results found similar rates of door opening whether the free rat could escape or not, suggesting empathy rather than escaping distress motivated helping. Further analyses of vocalizations and time near the restrainer are needed to fully understand the rats' motivations. Studying rodent empathy can provide insights into the evolution of this complex social behavior.
1. Edward C. Tolman was an American psychologist who developed the theory of purposive behaviorism, which emphasized the role of cognition and purpose in learning.
2. According to Tolman's theory, learning is influenced by expectations, goals, and beliefs, and animals develop cognitive maps to guide behavior toward goals. Behavior is guided by internal processes and goals rather than just external stimuli.
3. Tolman's experiments on latent learning and place learning in rats provided evidence that learning involves the development of internal representations of the environment and relationships between stimuli to guide future behavior, even without direct reinforcement.
This study experimentally evaluated attachment behaviors in owned cats using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Test. 28 cats of different ages, body types, sexes, and reproductive statuses underwent the test. The cats spent more time exploring when with their owner compared to alone or with a stranger. They exhibited alert behaviors more frequently with a stranger. The cats were less active when alone. The results were consistent with attachment behaviors found in children, suggesting cats can form attachments to their owners. Further research is needed to study separation anxiety in cats.
The professor cast doubt on several key points made in the reading. First, he argued that meerkat sentinels eat before standing guard and are more likely to escape predators than the reading claimed, casting doubt on their supposed altruism. Second, he suggested human acts like organ donation are not truly altruistic as the reading claimed, since donors receive appreciation and a sense of self-worth, providing them personal benefits. In both cases, the professor challenged the core viewpoints expressed in the reading that the behaviors were selfless and altruistic by presenting alternative evidence and interpretations from recent studies.
In Humans and Animals, Social Learning Drives IntelligenceWayne Imber
1) New research shows that animals learn many skills socially from others of their species, like humans do, rather than solely through individual trial and error learning.
2) Studies found that animals raised without social contact lacked skills their wild counterparts had, and animals raised by other species took on behaviors of that species.
3) This suggests social learning plays a bigger role in animal intelligence than previously thought, and may have driven the evolution of greater social learning and intelligence in human ancestors.
Social learning theory posits that learning occurs through observation of others within a social context. It expands on traditional behavioral theories by emphasizing internal cognitive processes like attention, memory, and motivation in addition to external reinforcement. According to social learning theory, people can learn through observation of both behaviors and consequences without their own direct experience.
Learning is the modification of behavior based on experiences and tends to follow learning curves. There are several types of learning, including habituation, imprinting, classical conditioning, trial and error learning, latent learning, insight, reasoning, and cognition. Habituation is a decrease in response to repeated, irrelevant stimuli to allow animals to ignore meaningless stimuli. Imprinting occurs during a sensitive period and involves rapid learning of behaviors or recognition of others. Classical conditioning involves learning associations between stimuli through rewards and punishments. Trial and error and latent learning do not require reinforcement. Insight and reasoning involve forming conclusions through thought to solve problems.
How to Know if your Dog Loves You
by
myself
-
October 28, 2022
0
How to Know if your Dog Loves You?
How to Know if your Dog Loves You?
Does my dog love me or simply my food? If you’ve questioned this question, you’re one of the hundreds of dog owners who have asked the same question. Are they the greatest swindle artists, or do they actually adore us?
As dog owners, we easily accept that we adore our pets. Why do we get out of a warm bed and take them outdoors in frigid conditions early in the morning?
Why do we leave a fantastic restaurant before sweets and hurry home to feed them? Why do we readily forgive them when they eat our favorite slippers?
To claim that dogs are “man’s best friend” is an exaggeration for many of us. Yet, the persistent question remains…. Do our dogs love us back?
The simple version: yes. Dogs do love humans, and they demonstrate it in several different ways.
Indications Your Dog Loves You
Indications Your Dog Loves You
Here are a few ways you may determine whether your pet is expressing some love:
1. They’re thrilled to see you. All dog owners are aware of this situation. You open your front door to a tornado of furry fun.
Your dog could jump on you, kiss your face, and they’ll undoubtedly wag its tail.
Being delighted and happy to see you is one way you may be confident they love and miss you.
2. They want physical interaction. This can occur as a short nuzzle, a snuggle, or the legendary lean.
All of these signals show that your pup wants to demonstrate affection. Letting them do this on their own conditions is better, so resist the impulse to lock them in a tight hug.
3. They want to sleep near you. Dogs, by instinct, sleep in a group adjacent to each other. They place their nostrils to the wind to catch up on any odors that could suggest a threat.
When your pet snuggles next to you or wants to sleep in your room, it indicates that they trust you and feel safe.
4. They flash your puppy eyes. Holding eye contact is a significant step for dogs, and it’s designated for someone they love and trust. In the wild, dead-on eye contact is an aggressive approach.
They utilize this approach to scare each other and achieve control. When your dog stares squarely in the eyes and keeps visual communication despite its pupils becoming wider, they’re staring at you warmly.
5. They check on you. Cooking, watching TV, toilet visits – your dog is always there — or instead, they try to be.
Your pet could peek in your bedroom once to say hi, or they may be your regular shadow around the home.
Checking in on you is just one method your dog displays devotion. They’re making sure you’re okay!
6. They’ll lick you. When your dog licks you, it might be for various reasons, but ultimately it’s a loving gesture.
They crave your presence and want to engage. They might be revving up to play or just providing an enthusiastic kiss before a
Animal Cruelty Essay examples
Animal Communication Essay example
Is It An Animal? Essay
Animal Emotions Essay
What Are The Arguments Against Animal Testing
Essay about Animals Must Be Protected
The Evolution of Animals Essay
Homeless Animals Essay
The Spirit Of Spirit Animal
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Owning a Pet Essay
Types of Animals on Earth Essay
The relationship between humans and animals is complex. We can find our best friends in them while we can be their worst enemy. Our activities encourage students to learn about animals and care about their wellbeing and protection while they continue improving their English. Our B2 First and C1 Advanced students will read some interesting facts about cats and dogs. Our B1 Preliminary and B2 First students can practise their reading skills to find the perfect pet / owner match. The younger ones will learn some fun information about a fascinating animal. Happy teaching!
This study examined the effects of pet ownership on stress levels. 68 participants were randomly assigned to write about either a stressful event or their bedtime routine, followed by writing about their pet or drawing a map. Those who wrote about a stressful event and then their pet reported lower stress levels than those who wrote about a stressful event and drew a map. There was no effect for the control group who wrote about their bedtime routine. The results supported the hypothesis that thinking about one's pet can reduce stress induced by negative experiences like recalling a stressful event. The study provides further evidence that pet ownership can have mental health benefits by lowering stress.
Las disfunciones sexuales ocurren cuando se altera la respuesta sexual normal y afectan la satisfacción sexual. Existen varios tipos como falta de deseo, excitación o problemas de erección. Las causas pueden ser físicas como bajos niveles hormonales o uso de drogas, o psicológicas como estrés o baja autoestima. El Viagra es un tratamiento común para la disfunción eréctil pero puede causar efectos secundarios transitorios como dolor de cabeza o alteraciones visuales. Se debe consultar a un médico antes de tomar
1) The study examined how oxytocin and dopamine influence sexual preference in female rats. It found that both oxytocin and dopamine are involved in forming partner preferences, with the nucleus accumbens playing an important role.
2) Tests showed that administering oxytocin or a dopamine agonist led to partner preferences, while blocking oxytocin or dopamine receptors prevented this. The two neurotransmitters seem to interact to regulate social bonding.
3) A further study determined that activating both oxytocin and dopamine D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens is essential for forming partner preferences in rats. This suggests the nucleus accumbens is an important brain area where oxytocin and dopamine interact to regulate pair
Empathic listening involves listening with the intent to understand how the speaker feels in addition to their ideas. It is an effective technique for emotional situations or conflicts as it allows the speaker to share feelings without judgment. To listen empathetically, reflect back the emotions and meaning perceived without questioning, judging or advising the speaker. The goal is to understand the other person's perspective.
El documento describe la fisiología de la erección y el mecanismo de acción del sildenafil (Viagra). La erección ocurre cuando la estimulación parasimpática causa la relajación del músculo liso vascular en los cuerpos cavernosos, aumentando el flujo sanguíneo. El sildenafil inhibe la fosfodiesterasa tipo 5, previniendo la degradación del GMPc y manteniendo la relajación del músculo liso para lograr una erección.
The document discusses animal behavior and its use as a screening tool in biomedical research. It defines animal behavior and describes ethology, the scientific study of animal behavior. It discusses pioneers in the field like Niko Tinbergen and covers different types of behaviors like feeding, social, and communicative behaviors. The document also discusses the nature vs nurture debate and different learning processes in animals. It describes using animal models to study behaviors related to pain, anxiety, depression, and other conditions to gain insights into human behaviors and disorders.
Reproductive behaviour: 1-Sexual behaviour in animalsrhfayed
Reproductive Behaviour involve behaviour patterns associated with courtship, copulation, birth, maternal care and with suckling attempts of newborn. It is species specific behaviour
Animal reproduction class presentation (ppt)antonievan
The document summarizes animal reproduction across multiple species. It describes the basic processes of copulation, fertilization, embryo development, and birth. It then provides detailed information on the male and female reproductive systems of various livestock, including their structures, functions, and the hormonal control of reproduction. Key aspects covered include the testes and ovaries, gamete production, role of hormones, gestation, and birth.
- Rats originated in Asia and spread to Europe through trade routes, with the brown rat colonizing worldwide.
- Laboratory rats descended from the brown rat and differ from wild rats in traits like smaller adrenals and earlier sexual maturity.
- Rats can be inbred strains or outbred stocks and show variability in biological parameters depending on their classification.
- Rats are nocturnal, non-aggressive, and easily trainable but improper handling can affect their behavior.
Rats display helping behaviors like opening doors to release trapped cagemates from restrainers. This study aims to investigate if rats are motivated by empathy or personal distress to help. Rats were tested in pairs, with one rat trapped in a restrainer with a modifiable door. The free rat's behavior was observed with or without an escape option. Preliminary results found similar rates of door opening whether the free rat could escape or not, suggesting empathy rather than escaping distress motivated helping. Further analyses of vocalizations and time near the restrainer are needed to fully understand the rats' motivations. Studying rodent empathy can provide insights into the evolution of this complex social behavior.
1. Edward C. Tolman was an American psychologist who developed the theory of purposive behaviorism, which emphasized the role of cognition and purpose in learning.
2. According to Tolman's theory, learning is influenced by expectations, goals, and beliefs, and animals develop cognitive maps to guide behavior toward goals. Behavior is guided by internal processes and goals rather than just external stimuli.
3. Tolman's experiments on latent learning and place learning in rats provided evidence that learning involves the development of internal representations of the environment and relationships between stimuli to guide future behavior, even without direct reinforcement.
This study experimentally evaluated attachment behaviors in owned cats using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Test. 28 cats of different ages, body types, sexes, and reproductive statuses underwent the test. The cats spent more time exploring when with their owner compared to alone or with a stranger. They exhibited alert behaviors more frequently with a stranger. The cats were less active when alone. The results were consistent with attachment behaviors found in children, suggesting cats can form attachments to their owners. Further research is needed to study separation anxiety in cats.
The professor cast doubt on several key points made in the reading. First, he argued that meerkat sentinels eat before standing guard and are more likely to escape predators than the reading claimed, casting doubt on their supposed altruism. Second, he suggested human acts like organ donation are not truly altruistic as the reading claimed, since donors receive appreciation and a sense of self-worth, providing them personal benefits. In both cases, the professor challenged the core viewpoints expressed in the reading that the behaviors were selfless and altruistic by presenting alternative evidence and interpretations from recent studies.
In Humans and Animals, Social Learning Drives IntelligenceWayne Imber
1) New research shows that animals learn many skills socially from others of their species, like humans do, rather than solely through individual trial and error learning.
2) Studies found that animals raised without social contact lacked skills their wild counterparts had, and animals raised by other species took on behaviors of that species.
3) This suggests social learning plays a bigger role in animal intelligence than previously thought, and may have driven the evolution of greater social learning and intelligence in human ancestors.
Social learning theory posits that learning occurs through observation of others within a social context. It expands on traditional behavioral theories by emphasizing internal cognitive processes like attention, memory, and motivation in addition to external reinforcement. According to social learning theory, people can learn through observation of both behaviors and consequences without their own direct experience.
Learning is the modification of behavior based on experiences and tends to follow learning curves. There are several types of learning, including habituation, imprinting, classical conditioning, trial and error learning, latent learning, insight, reasoning, and cognition. Habituation is a decrease in response to repeated, irrelevant stimuli to allow animals to ignore meaningless stimuli. Imprinting occurs during a sensitive period and involves rapid learning of behaviors or recognition of others. Classical conditioning involves learning associations between stimuli through rewards and punishments. Trial and error and latent learning do not require reinforcement. Insight and reasoning involve forming conclusions through thought to solve problems.
How to Know if your Dog Loves You
by
myself
-
October 28, 2022
0
How to Know if your Dog Loves You?
How to Know if your Dog Loves You?
Does my dog love me or simply my food? If you’ve questioned this question, you’re one of the hundreds of dog owners who have asked the same question. Are they the greatest swindle artists, or do they actually adore us?
As dog owners, we easily accept that we adore our pets. Why do we get out of a warm bed and take them outdoors in frigid conditions early in the morning?
Why do we leave a fantastic restaurant before sweets and hurry home to feed them? Why do we readily forgive them when they eat our favorite slippers?
To claim that dogs are “man’s best friend” is an exaggeration for many of us. Yet, the persistent question remains…. Do our dogs love us back?
The simple version: yes. Dogs do love humans, and they demonstrate it in several different ways.
Indications Your Dog Loves You
Indications Your Dog Loves You
Here are a few ways you may determine whether your pet is expressing some love:
1. They’re thrilled to see you. All dog owners are aware of this situation. You open your front door to a tornado of furry fun.
Your dog could jump on you, kiss your face, and they’ll undoubtedly wag its tail.
Being delighted and happy to see you is one way you may be confident they love and miss you.
2. They want physical interaction. This can occur as a short nuzzle, a snuggle, or the legendary lean.
All of these signals show that your pup wants to demonstrate affection. Letting them do this on their own conditions is better, so resist the impulse to lock them in a tight hug.
3. They want to sleep near you. Dogs, by instinct, sleep in a group adjacent to each other. They place their nostrils to the wind to catch up on any odors that could suggest a threat.
When your pet snuggles next to you or wants to sleep in your room, it indicates that they trust you and feel safe.
4. They flash your puppy eyes. Holding eye contact is a significant step for dogs, and it’s designated for someone they love and trust. In the wild, dead-on eye contact is an aggressive approach.
They utilize this approach to scare each other and achieve control. When your dog stares squarely in the eyes and keeps visual communication despite its pupils becoming wider, they’re staring at you warmly.
5. They check on you. Cooking, watching TV, toilet visits – your dog is always there — or instead, they try to be.
Your pet could peek in your bedroom once to say hi, or they may be your regular shadow around the home.
Checking in on you is just one method your dog displays devotion. They’re making sure you’re okay!
6. They’ll lick you. When your dog licks you, it might be for various reasons, but ultimately it’s a loving gesture.
They crave your presence and want to engage. They might be revving up to play or just providing an enthusiastic kiss before a
Animal Cruelty Essay examples
Animal Communication Essay example
Is It An Animal? Essay
Animal Emotions Essay
What Are The Arguments Against Animal Testing
Essay about Animals Must Be Protected
The Evolution of Animals Essay
Homeless Animals Essay
The Spirit Of Spirit Animal
Animal Experiments Essay
Animal Conservation Essay
Owning a Pet Essay
Types of Animals on Earth Essay
The relationship between humans and animals is complex. We can find our best friends in them while we can be their worst enemy. Our activities encourage students to learn about animals and care about their wellbeing and protection while they continue improving their English. Our B2 First and C1 Advanced students will read some interesting facts about cats and dogs. Our B1 Preliminary and B2 First students can practise their reading skills to find the perfect pet / owner match. The younger ones will learn some fun information about a fascinating animal. Happy teaching!
This study examined the effects of pet ownership on stress levels. 68 participants were randomly assigned to write about either a stressful event or their bedtime routine, followed by writing about their pet or drawing a map. Those who wrote about a stressful event and then their pet reported lower stress levels than those who wrote about a stressful event and drew a map. There was no effect for the control group who wrote about their bedtime routine. The results supported the hypothesis that thinking about one's pet can reduce stress induced by negative experiences like recalling a stressful event. The study provides further evidence that pet ownership can have mental health benefits by lowering stress.
Primates evolved large brains and intelligence due to both ecological and social pressures. Ecological challenges like finding patchy fruit resources and extracting hidden foods likely contributed to brain growth. However, navigating complex social groups and tracking relationships between individuals and allies may have been an even stronger factor. While no single hypothesis explains primate intelligence fully, both ecological problem-solving and social cognition were likely important in driving the evolution of primate brain size.
The document summarizes an experiment that tested the long-term and short-term memory abilities of domestic rabbits. For the long-term memory test, rabbits were run through a multiple T-maze over three weeks to see if they could remember the maze pattern. Their times decreased significantly from week to week. For the short-term memory test, rabbits were exposed to novel objects but showed no response, making the results inconclusive. Limitations included small sample sizes and challenges with the maze design and handling of rabbits. Future research could improve on these aspects to better understand rabbit memory abilities.
Curious monkeys have increased gray matter density in the precuneusFrancys Subiaul
Curiosity is a cornerstone of cognition that has the potential to lead to innovations and increase the behavioral repertoire of individuals. A defining characteristic of curiosity is inquisitiveness directed toward novel objects. Species differences in innovative behavior and inquisitiveness have been linked to social complexity and neocortical size. In this study, we observed behavioral actions among nine socially reared and socially housed capuchin monkeys in response to an unfamiliar object, a paradigm widely employed as a means to assess curiosity. K-means hierarchical clustering analysis of the behavioral
responses revealed three monkeys engaged in significantly more exploratory behavior of the novel object than other monkeys. Using voxel-based-morphometry analysis of MRIs obtained from these same subjects, we demonstrated that the more curious monkeys had significantly greater gray matter density in the precuneus, a cortical region involved in highly integrated processes including memory and self-awareness. These results linking variation in precuneus gray matter volume to exploratory behavior suggest that monitoring states of self-awareness may play a role in cognitive processes mediating individual curiosity.
25 sty 2019 ... It complements previous research by assessing the neural basis of social influence and extends our understanding of the decision to trust. Our .... 14 cze 2023 ... Social influence is the process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs or behavior are modified by the presence or action of others.. Social influence involves intentional and unintentional efforts to change another person's beliefs, attitudes, or behavior. Unlike persuasion, which is .... Social influence plays a significant role in shaping consumer behavior, and research in this area comprises a substantial portion of the literature.. 12 maj 2016 ... Social influence research covers a broad range of topics, from persuasion and attitude change, to compliance and conformity, to collective .... 1 mar 2013 ... The empirical study we analyse was conducted by Lorenz et al.. In this experiment individuals were asked to guess the correct answer to six .... 11 lut 2019 ... In our study, we used the event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain activity in social influence during a trust .... Social Influence Research Topics: · Compliance · Debiasing · Door-in-the-Face Technique · Foot-in-the-Door Technique · Forewarning · Heuristic-Systematic Model of .... Social influence research is also typically nomothetic. It attempts to create general theories and laws of social behaviour that apply to any individual. It .... Latané's Social Impact Theory (1981); a very useful mathematical model for explaining social impact. Kelman's theory is older, so much more research up to date ...
Animal behavior types can be categorized into several types including learning, habituation, imprinting, classical conditioning, trial and error learning, latent learning, insight, reasoning, and cognition. Learning is the modification of behavior based on experiences and can range from simple to complex. Habituation is the decrease in response to repeated stimuli over time. Imprinting occurs during a sensitive period where young animals learn recognition and attraction patterns. Classical conditioning pairs an innate response with a new stimulus. Trial and error and insight involve solving problems through testing or understanding relationships. Latent learning occurs without reinforcement. Animal cognition allows perception, processing, and use of information.
1 Running head THE ETHICS OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES .docxhoney725342
1
Running head: THE ETHICS OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES
The Ethics of Elephants in Circuses
Dr. Christopher Foster
PHI103: Informal Logic
Ashford University
Annotated example for Week One Assignment
2
THE ETHICS OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES
This is the argument in
Standard Form.
Standard Form means
putting each premise
and conclusion on a
separate line, as
observed here. Labeling
the premises P1, P2, etc.
is also helpful to be able
to refer to them later.
The next four
paragraphs
provide
support for
each premise
of the
argument.
The topic of
each
paragraph is
clear from the
opening
sentence.
It is good to
provide
clarification of
the meaning of
premises as well
(as indicated in
the instructions).
P1: Elephants are highly intelligent animals.
P2: Putting elephants in circuses requires them to live their
lives in extreme confinement.
P3: Anything that requires highly intelligent animals to
live their lives in extreme confinement is wrong unless it serves
a purpose that outweighs the suffering involved.
P4: Putting elephants in circuses does not serve a purpose that
outweighs the suffering involved.
C: Therefore, putting elephants in circuses is wrong.
The first premise has been widely known for decades by those who
have studied elephants. Scientific studies have shown that elephants are
able to independently discover novel methods to figure out how to retrieve
food, and they have recently been shown to be able to enlist the help of
other elephants in situations that require cooperation (Jabr, 2014).
The second premise is justified by looking at how elephants are
treated in circuses. When not performing or being transported, circus
elephants are kept on a short chain that prevents them from being able
to move around or even lie down normally. This is what is meant by
‘extreme confinement’: captivity so severe that the animal is not able
to get proper exercise and stimulation. In addition to the captivity, there
3
THE ETHICS OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES
have been many reports, and footage, of abuse of circus elephants with bullhooks, electrocution, and
other forms of cruelty (Nelson, 2011).
The third premise makes a strong moral claim. Given the intelligence of elephants, and their
natural use of vast savannahs of space, life spent on a tiny chain will involve a tremendous amount of
suffering. They develop “stereotypic behaviors” such as constant swaying back and forth, indicating
severe psychological distress (Wildlife Advocacy Project, n.d.). President of PAWS, Ed Stewart, expresses
it well:
Elephants should not be in captivity – period … The social structure isn’t correct, the space is not
right, the climate is not right, the food is not right … They are unbelievably intelligent. With all of
that brainpower – to be as limited as they are in captivity – it’s a wonder they cope at all. (Jabr,
2014)
My final premise states ...
Females acquired auditory fear conditioning faster than males when exposed to 5 tone-shock pairings, freezing more during tones 3 and 5. Females also showed a preference for exploring a novel object compared to males. In the Morris water maze, females outperformed males in spatial learning when a prominent landmark cue was present, relying more on landmarks while males relied more on geometric cues. The results indicate sex differences in hippocampus-dependent tasks, with females dominating in some contexts. These findings should influence experimental designs and clinical treatments by considering potential sex-based differences.
Similar to Empathy and Pro-Social Behavior in Rats (20)
Immersive Learning That Works: Research Grounding and Paths ForwardLeonel Morgado
We will metaverse into the essence of immersive learning, into its three dimensions and conceptual models. This approach encompasses elements from teaching methodologies to social involvement, through organizational concerns and technologies. Challenging the perception of learning as knowledge transfer, we introduce a 'Uses, Practices & Strategies' model operationalized by the 'Immersive Learning Brain' and ‘Immersion Cube’ frameworks. This approach offers a comprehensive guide through the intricacies of immersive educational experiences and spotlighting research frontiers, along the immersion dimensions of system, narrative, and agency. Our discourse extends to stakeholders beyond the academic sphere, addressing the interests of technologists, instructional designers, and policymakers. We span various contexts, from formal education to organizational transformation to the new horizon of an AI-pervasive society. This keynote aims to unite the iLRN community in a collaborative journey towards a future where immersive learning research and practice coalesce, paving the way for innovative educational research and practice landscapes.
Mending Clothing to Support Sustainable Fashion_CIMaR 2024.pdfSelcen Ozturkcan
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We present the JWST discovery of SN 2023adsy, a transient object located in a host galaxy JADES-GS
+
53.13485
−
27.82088
with a host spectroscopic redshift of
2.903
±
0.007
. The transient was identified in deep James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/NIRCam imaging from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. Photometric and spectroscopic followup with NIRCam and NIRSpec, respectively, confirm the redshift and yield UV-NIR light-curve, NIR color, and spectroscopic information all consistent with a Type Ia classification. Despite its classification as a likely SN Ia, SN 2023adsy is both fairly red (
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(
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−
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)
∼
0.9
) despite a host galaxy with low-extinction and has a high Ca II velocity (
19
,
000
±
2
,
000
km/s) compared to the general population of SNe Ia. While these characteristics are consistent with some Ca-rich SNe Ia, particularly SN 2016hnk, SN 2023adsy is intrinsically brighter than the low-
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Ca-rich population. Although such an object is too red for any low-
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cosmological sample, we apply a fiducial standardization approach to SN 2023adsy and find that the SN 2023adsy luminosity distance measurement is in excellent agreement (
≲
1
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) with
Λ
CDM. Therefore unlike low-
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Ca-rich SNe Ia, SN 2023adsy is standardizable and gives no indication that SN Ia standardized luminosities change significantly with redshift. A larger sample of distant SNe Ia is required to determine if SN Ia population characteristics at high-
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truly diverge from their low-
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counterparts, and to confirm that standardized luminosities nevertheless remain constant with redshift.
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equations sourced by a topological defect, i.e. a singularity of a very specific form, the result is a localized gravitational
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spherical shell without any underlying mass. Moreover, a large-scale structure which exploits this solution by assembling
concentrically a number of such topological defects can establish a flat stellar or galactic rotation curve, and can also deflect
light in the same manner as an equipotential (isothermal) sphere. Thus, the need for dark matter or modified gravity theory is
mitigated, at least in part.
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Thematic analysis in qualitative research is a time-consuming and systematic task, typically done using teams. Team members must ground their activities on common understandings of the major concepts underlying the thematic analysis, and define criteria for its development. However, conceptual misunderstandings, equivocations, and lack of adherence to criteria are challenges to the quality and speed of this process. Given the distributed and uncertain nature of this process, we wondered if the tasks in thematic analysis could be supported by readily available artificial intelligence chatbots. Our early efforts point to potential benefits: not just saving time in the coding process but better adherence to criteria and grounding, by increasing triangulation between humans and artificial intelligence. This tutorial will provide a description and demonstration of the process we followed, as two academic researchers, to develop a custom ChatGPT to assist with qualitative coding in the thematic data analysis process of immersive learning accounts in a survey of the academic literature: QUAL-E Immersive Learning Thematic Analysis Helper. In the hands-on time, participants will try out QUAL-E and develop their ideas for their own qualitative coding ChatGPT. Participants that have the paid ChatGPT Plus subscription can create a draft of their assistants. The organizers will provide course materials and slide deck that participants will be able to utilize to continue development of their custom GPT. The paid subscription to ChatGPT Plus is not required to participate in this workshop, just for trying out personal GPTs during it.
Sexuality - Issues, Attitude and Behaviour - Applied Social Psychology - Psyc...PsychoTech Services
A proprietary approach developed by bringing together the best of learning theories from Psychology, design principles from the world of visualization, and pedagogical methods from over a decade of training experience, that enables you to: Learn better, faster!
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The Milky Way’s (MW) inner stellar halo contains an [Fe/H]-rich component with highly eccentric orbits, often referred to as the
‘last major merger.’ Hypotheses for the origin of this component include Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus (GSE), where the progenitor
collided with the MW proto-disc 8–11 Gyr ago, and the Virgo Radial Merger (VRM), where the progenitor collided with the
MW disc within the last 3 Gyr. These two scenarios make different predictions about observable structure in local phase space,
because the morphology of debris depends on how long it has had to phase mix. The recently identified phase-space folds in Gaia
DR3 have positive caustic velocities, making them fundamentally different than the phase-mixed chevrons found in simulations
at late times. Roughly 20 per cent of the stars in the prograde local stellar halo are associated with the observed caustics. Based
on a simple phase-mixing model, the observed number of caustics are consistent with a merger that occurred 1–2 Gyr ago.
We also compare the observed phase-space distribution to FIRE-2 Latte simulations of GSE-like mergers, using a quantitative
measurement of phase mixing (2D causticality). The observed local phase-space distribution best matches the simulated data
1–2 Gyr after collision, and certainly not later than 3 Gyr. This is further evidence that the progenitor of the ‘last major merger’
did not collide with the MW proto-disc at early times, as is thought for the GSE, but instead collided with the MW disc within
the last few Gyr, consistent with the body of work surrounding the VRM.
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Targeting Hsp90 and its pathogen Orthologs with Tethered Inhibitors as a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategy for cancer and infectious diseases with Dr. Timothy Haystead.
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Conducted over a period of >200 years, Thermodynamics R&D, and application, benefitted from the highest levels of professionalism, collaboration, and technical thoroughness. New layers of application, methodology, and practice were made possible by the progressive advance of technology. In turn, this has seen measurement and modelling accuracy continually improved at a micro and macro level.
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3. Empathy
empathy
noun
1. The intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the
feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
2. The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
3. A multilayered phenomenon that starts with automatic state
matching based on motor mimicry and shared neural
representations, to which cognitive perspective taking is
secondary.
4. Russian Doll Model of Empathy
de Waal, F. B. M., “The Antiquity of Empathy”. Science. 336
(2012).
5. Pro-sociality and Empathy
Empathy:
The capacity to recognize
and share feelings
experienced by another
individual.
Pro-sociality:
The tendency to behave so
as to benefit another
individual.
6. Hypotheses
Pro-social rescue
behavior in rats is
not motivated by
empathic feeling.
Pro-social rescue
behavior in rats is
motivated by
empathic feeling.
H0 HA
7. Bartal, I.B., Decety, J., and Mason, P.
“Empathy and Pro-social Behavior in Rats”.
Science. 334 (2011): 1427-1430.
Impact Factor: 31.03
Study I
8. Study I Hypotheses
Rats are not
capable of
empathically
motivated helping
behavior.
Rats are capable of
empathically
motivated helping
behavior.
H0 HA
9. Materials and Methods:
Subjects
Sprague-Dawley
3-6 months old
46 male, 12
female
Housed in pairs
Tails marked for
identification
10. Materials and Methods: Set-up
50x50 cm plexiglass
arena
25x8.75 cm restrainer
Top-mounted video
camera to record
movement
Heterodyne recorder
to detect
vocalizations
Harvard Apparatus rodent restrainer.
12. Pre-trial Procedures
Habituation
Housed in pairs 2
weeks
Handled 4 days pre-
experiment
Placed in arena 1 hour
Returned to home
cage
Free-rat
Determination
Measure of boldness
Time-to-edge latency
Interesting effect
between latencies of
openers and non-
openers
13.
14. Experimental Procedure
1. Trapped rat placed in restrainer
2. Free rat marked and placed in arena
3. Start sessions 90 minutes (reduce to 60)
4. Record video and audio
5. Rats remained in arena for duration of
session
6. Repeated one session/day for 12 days.
16. Two Problems
Free rats didn’t open
restrainer
Investigator opened
door halfway
Did not count as
door-opening
Trapped rat opened door from inside
Plastic blocker inserted, used for remainder of
sessions
Removed if free rat opened door
17. Alarm calls greater for trapped condition. Trapped rats were
experiencing stress.
RESULTS: Alarm Calls
18. Free rats in trapped condition more active in second half of
sessions.
RESULTS: Activity Ratio
19. Latency to door-opening shortest for rats in trapped condition.
Proportion of trapped-condition rats opening door increased.
RESULTS: Door-opening
20. Freezing time after door-opening decreased across sessions.
RESULTS: Freezing Time
21. Females opened door at shorter latencies.
Females more active in trapped condition.
More female rats became openers than male rats.
RESULTS: Sex Differences
22. Free rats in trapped condition spent more time at arena center.
RESULTS: Movement Distribution
23. Results
Trapped rat was in distress
Free rats worked to alleviate stress
Opened door at greater frequencies
Opened door at shorter latencies
Increased activity until door was opened
Action was deliberate
Sex differences
24. Experiment II
To determine
whether
“anticipation of
social
interaction is
necessary to
motivate door-
opening”.
9 pairs of rats that were openers
Modified set up
Two arenas joined by restrainer
Trapped rat could only egress into
separate arena
Two conditions
Separated Empty
Separated Cagemate
One session/day for 29 and 27
days
28. Experiment III
To examine the
relative value of
liberating a
trapped
cagemate.
New set of rats, same strain and
age
Modified set up
One arena with two restrainers
Two conditions
Chocolate Empty
Chocolate Cagemate
One session/day for 12 days
31. No difference in door-opening latencies for chocolate- and
cagemate-containing restrainers.
RESULTS: Door-opening Latencies
32. Discussion
Desire for social contact
Free rats liberated cagemate even when contact
was prevented
Stop alarm calls
Alarm calls occurred too infrequently
Curiosity
Curiosity extinguishes within trial time frame
Coincidence with activity levels
Door-opening was hard, could not occur
accidentally
33. Study I Hypotheses
Rats are not
capable of
empathically
motivated helping
behavior.
Rats are capable of
empathically
motivated helping
behavior.
H0 HA
34. Critique
Experiment conducted during rat’s light cycle
Opening door halfway
No data tables
Poorly explained procedures
35.
36. Silberberg, A., Allouch, C., Sandfort, S.,
Kearns, D., Karpel, H., and Slotnick, B.
“Desire for social contact, not empathy, may
explain rescue behavior in rats”. Animal
Cognition. (2013).
Impact Factor: 2.71
Study II
37. Study II Hypotheses
Pro-social behaviors
are motivated by
social contact, as
free rats will not
learn to liberate a
trapped rat when
absence of social
contact is the
outcome of
Pro-social behaviors
are not motivated by
social contact, as
free rats will learn to
liberate a trapped
rat when absence of
social contact is the
outcome of
behaviors.
H0 HA
38. Materials and Methods:
Subjects
Sprague-Dawley
3-6 months old
12 females, 6 pairs
Housed in pairs
Habituated as in
Study I
39. Materials and Methods: Set-up
Two plastic arenas
41x58 cm each
Joined by restrainer
25x8.75 cm restrainer
Doors recessed 2.1
cm
Opened by rat contact
with metal strip
sensor on free rat’s
side
40. Materials and Methods:
Conditions
All 12 rats participated in each condition sequentially
Condition 1
Free rat contact opens distal door
30 minute sessions, 15 sessions
Condition 2
Free rat contact opens near door, permitting social
contact
30 minute sessions, 15 sessions
Condition 3
Free rat contact opens distal door
30 minute sessions, 27 sessions
41. Experimental Procedure
1. Trapped rat placed in restrainer
2. Free rat placed in arena
3. Session duration 30 minutes
4. Investigators observe rat behavior
5. Repeated one session/day for 15 days,
then move to next condition
6. End with 27 sessions of Condition 3
42. Latencies increased across Condition 1.
Latencies decreased between Conditions 1 and 2.
RESULTS: Door-opening Latencies
43. Response rate decreased across Condition 1.
Response rate increased between Conditions 1 and 3.
RESULTS: Door-opening
Frequencies
44. Experiment II
To determine
if frequent
door-sensor
contacts are
due to free
rat’s
motivation to
be near
cagemate.
Same subjects and materials
Continue Condition 3 for 1
session
Quantify:
Return time in restrainer
Free rat contact with restrainer
Introduce Condition 4
Fifteen 30-minute sessions
No action by free rat will release
trapped rat
45. 3 of 6 free rats spend majority of time in contact with restrainer.
4 of 6 trapped rats spend majority of time after door opening in
restrainer.
RESULTS: Video Scores
46. No decrease in response rate.
RESULTS: Latency and Frequency
47. RESULTS: Experiments I and II
Result Empathy
Social
Contact
Condition 1: Latencies increased and frequencies
decreased
✓
Condition 2: Latencies decreased across sessions ✓ ✓
Condition 3: Response latency remained short ✓
Condition 3: Response frequency remained high ✓
Condition 4: Free rat responses did not decrease ✓
48. Discussion
Difference in trapped rat behavior between
Conditions 1 and 2
Free rat’s responses are not outcome-
dependent.
49. Study II Hypotheses
Pro-social behaviors
are motivated by
social contact, as
free rats will not
learn to liberate a
trapped rat when
absence of social
contact is the
outcome of
Pro-social behaviors
are not motivated by
social contact, as
free rats will learn to
liberate a trapped
rat even when
absence of social
contact is the
outcome of
H0 HA
50. Critique
Graphs hard to interpret
No frequency data for Condition 2
Video scoring
Snout contacts not counted
Trapped rat position not scored when free rat was on
top of restrainer
Poor analysis
Poor design for opening mechanism
Analysis of Condition 4
52. Hypotheses
Pro-social rescue
behavior in rats is
not motivated by
empathic feeling.
Pro-social rescue
behavior in rats is
motivated by
empathic feeling.
H0 HA
Editor's Notes
I decided to start with this picture for several reasons. First, it’s a pretty weird picture, and if this doesn’t get your attention I don’t know what will. But first I want to explain where I got this photo. If you do a google image search for rat empathy, looking for experiment set ups, this is the 20th result. Which in an image search is not bad, Its right on the front page.
Empathy is often considered a uniquely human quality. If you consider the golden rule, where the ability to put yourself in someone else’s position can help you decide how to behave, it is often associated with ethical behavior and morality. If you’re so inclined to believe that humans draw morality from religion, findings that other animals that clearly don’t practice religion are capable of empathy and subsequent actions on it, it could be a little paradigm shattering.
On the other hand, if you arent
And even if you aren’t religious, finding that other animals have the capacity for empathy, and the ability to act on it, has profound implications for cognitive psychology and even philosophy and ethics. It shows that there is an evolutionary, biological, basis for empathic feelings and concerns about other’s welfare. If we can determine what animals express it and what don’t, we can get closer to understanding the evolutionary emergence of empathy.
So what is empathy? Read definitions. Empathy, for a simple example, is responsible for the feeling you get when you see someone else get hurt and you flinch. The first definition suggest that one must be capable of metacognition, the ability to think about ones own thoughts, to be capable of empathy. So you see it happen and think, yeah, that would hurt. Though it helps when you can think about it, it works before you know it. Your brain is mimicing the neural processes that are happening in that person jus Unconscious empathy is demonstrated when human study participants mimic observed facial expressions and report corresponding emotions even though the expressions were presented too breifly for for conscious perception.
That thinking about it, putting yourself in someone elses shoes, is called cognitive perspective taking. Cognitive-perspective taking is secondary to the roots of empathy, which starts with atuomatic state matching based on motor mimicry and shared neural representations.
PAM – stands for perception-action mechanism, which I take to mean whatever sensory cues it takes to communicate the feeling of the donor. It might be an olfactory cue, sight, or in the case of rodents where sight isnt’ that good, it could be touch of whiskers used to determine facial expression. (pain is communicated in mice this way)
So the perception action mechanism leads to emotional contagion, which, to put a very simple example, is like one baby cries all the babies cry. Seeing something happen, or someone react, basically the PAM, causes motor mimicry and shared neural representations in the recipient. The evolutionary basis for this is to rapidly spread alarm through a group to coordinate travel and communicate about danger. Another interesting instance of emotional contagion is yawning. Chimps and humans yawn (maybe even dogs and rats do) when they see other chimps or humans yawn. Theres also studies that show that this may be restricted to kin, or in-groups, where chimps only yawn when they see kin do it, not members of out-group
There already a building body of evidence for emotional contagion in rodents. That’s the innermost doll. What we want to know is how much whole representation of this do rats have? Does the rodent model of empathy include the outermost doll, where empathy motivates “targeted helping”, pro-social helping behavior?
In the second study, the authors cite Marco Vasconcelos opinion piece in Biology letters entitled Pro-sociality without empathy. In that piece he has two great working definitons for empathy and pro sociality.
Prosocial behaviors are well documented, “widespread and uncontroversial phenomenon” in the animal kingdom, even down to ants. What we want to know is what role an empathic mind state plays in motivating pro-social behavior. Knowing in what species, and to what extent, empathy is present and motivates behavior, can help us learn about the evolutionary emergence of empathy, which will have impacts in behavioral and cognitive psychology, and even ethics and philosophy.
I am going to critically evaluate two studies, both of which place rat pairs in a situation where one is trapped and the other is capable of freeing the first, yet come to different conclusions about the motivation for the helping behavior. At the end of the analysis, ill be able to accept, or fail to reject, one of these hypotheses.
Determine this by whether or not they help, and in what condiitons
Sprague-dawley are albino rats. Main advantage over other strains is calmness and ease of handling. There are many other strains with varied purposes, Zucker rats as models for obesity, hairless rats that have immune dysfunction, Biobreeding rat that develops diabetes, etc.
Kind of cool Sprague Dawley strain developed at SD company in Madison in 1925
Rats become sexually mature around 5 weeks, “socially” mature around 5 months
Restrainer has several holes and slits that allow for breathing, smell and tactile communication between rats.
Top mounted camera and video analysis software to measure speed of free rat movements and placement in the arena
Heterodyne detector measured vocalizaitons in the ~23 kHz range. Same type of instrument used to detect bats. Lowers ultrasounds to a frequency we can hear.
Rats vocalize in range humans can hear (2-20 kHz), and above. 22-25 for agonistic encounters. 22 is considered threshold for “alarm calls”
~50 is associated with positive affect, ~ 22 negative emotional state (presence of predators, footshocks, social defeat, aversive drugs, touch by unfamiliar human)
All arenas are the same size.
Trapped: one rat free, one rat in restrainer
Empty: one rat free in the arena, empty (closed) restrainer
Object: one rat free, stuffed animal (white) in restrainer
2+ Empty: one rat free in divided arena with empty restrainer, one other rat in arena but across divide
Habituation: performance in this set-up is very sensitive to stress. If they are stressed they could emit alarm calls not due to restrainer.
Same sex, same age pairs.
Handled, by investigators, though didn’t say how. 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes on days 1, 2, 3, and 4 before experiment
Placed in arena together. Doors were open or removed on restrainer
Free rat determination: Reduce variance due to hierarchical position of rats within the pair.
Time to edge latency – time it took for a rat to come to edge of the cage, rear up, and place paws on ledge after lid is lifted. Measurement taken on first three days of habituation. Shortest latency rat of a pair was chosen to be the free rat
Interesting to note – latencies were shorter for both rats in cages that were later classified as openers than non-openers. No statistical analysis
What the rats do. Supposedly at this time trapped rat is experiencing distress and may be making alarm calls. Free rat runs around sniffing, biting, investigating. Talk about size of arena, weights on door, black dot on head.
Took rats an average of 6.9 +- 2.9 days to open the door. (Avg 7)
Two problems occurred
Rats opening from inside – plastic blocker inserted. Used for remainder of sessions. 2 rat pairs were removed from the study because they figured out how to open the door before blocker was employed
Free rat not opening at all – investigator opened door halfway. How does this affect the trapped rat’s feelings? Would the free rat figure it out eventually? Yes, some did, but still.
Didn’t count as opening. That means the free rat may have been liberated before day
First need to establish that rats were in distress. Calls occurred more frequently on days 1-3 when door-opening was rare. What time did they make these vocalizations? After door was opened? Before?
Not a lot of vocalizations, in general.
Before learning to open the door. This could show that rats are motivated to move to figure out how to open the door. Or are just stimulated by other rats alarm calls/distress.
Interesting that activity didn’t increase after opening
By 12th day, were opening restrainer within minutes of the start of the session.
At the end of the experiment, 23/30 rats in trapped condition opened the door, only 5/40 in control opened it
GRAPH b – 5 is missing on the 50
Shows that rats were no longer startled by door falling. The door falling was the “expected outcome of a deliberate, goal-directed action”
Use testing day 7-12 because that’s how long it took them to open the door.
Shorter latency significant with p value .01
6/6 female rats opened the door, 17/24 male rats opened the door total. (significant with p value .05)
Female rats are generally more active. Among rat owners, female rats are thought to be more “hyper”. However, its interesting that this activity difference is only seen in the trapped condition. (significant with p-value .001 ANOVA)
This is interpreted to be consistent with suggestions that females are more empathic than males. (This can be seen in humans where females can read expressions better and hear inflections in voice that males cant. Better able to predict how a person is feeling)
These graphs were nearly glossed over in the paper. I included them to show the movements of rats throughout conditions, and to illustrate specifically the 2+ empty condition, which didn’t come into play in any of the other analyses. To be honest I’m not sure what they thought it was going to show.
B is locations of rats every 2 seconds during the first session.
This does not necessarily show that rats display empathy. What if they just wanted to be with their cagemate? To play with?
Didn’t say how free rat could open the door. Obviously he pushed it over in the first experiment, but that means the trapped rat gets to come out where he pushed the door over.
Didn’t say how they split up the 9 rat pairs.
Didn’t say if 9 rats were the same as in Ex 1. Don’t think so. Took 12 pairs, tested them 12 days, took the 9 pairs that became openers
P value .001
Each bar represents median results of 3 testing days. This graph includes results from the first experiment (maybe)
It looks like the first section before the dotted line is the first experiment. But that can’t be, because rat’s didn’t learn to open the door until day 7. Did they repeat it? Three pairs were not included, so that accounts for the differences in rat numbers if they did use the same 30 rats that were in the trapped condition in Ex. 1
What to notice though, the y axis on this graph is in minutes. Sessions were 60 minutes long, so bars that reach to the top indicate that in those three testing days none of the rats opened the door at all.
Notice that they returned to short door-opening latencies when there was a cagemate in the separated condition.
No social contact necessary to motivate door-opening behavior
This is the most compelling part of the experiment I think
P value .001
Here we lost the y axis, but it is again the median latency of door-opening in minutes.
Notice that latencies stayed low in the cagemate condition. The only difference between the first and second sections here is that in the second section the trapped rat, when released by the free rat, could only exit into a separate arena. There was no social contact possible.
For the last 9 days, the door wasn’t opened at all in the empty condition. But, they rats opened the door for 18 days before that. Why?
Rats like chocolate a lot. This is obvious to anyone who’s ever had a pet rat, but they tested the theory anyway. When given a choice between rat chow at chocolate chips, non food deprived rats ate an average of >7 nestle toll house chocolate chips and no rat chow. (How many chocolate chips were there? If there were only 7 they ate them all. If there were more than 7, that’s still kind of a lot for a rat.
Didn’t say how many rats, or which rats. That it took them an average of 6 days to learn to open the doors it makes me think that they used a new set of subjects.
Y axis is latency to door-opening as percent of session time. (don’t know why they would do percent session time unless they had variable session times.
Rats opened chocolate containing one quicker (p value .01)
Took rats 5.8 +- 2.1 days to learn to open the door. That’s like one day sooner than other trapped rats. Difference?
Ate almost all the chips (4.8 +- 0.7)
No p value. I was confused about the “no difference” part of that. One has to be opened before the other. And looking at the graph the chocolate chip container actually was opened slightly before in 5/6 days after day 6
Shows that value of liberating a trapped cagemate is on par with accessing chocolate chips.
Shared chips in 61% of trials on day 6-12, 52% for the whole trial. Free rats only ate 3.5 +- 1.5 chips, leaving 1.5 +- 1.4 chips for the trapped rat.
That they shared the chips is really interesting. My rat lives by himself, hes got no one to compete with, and he is greedy!
Looks like door was opened halfway again. Was it opened for both restrainers?
Here, this study is in response to Inbal Bartal’s. They are concerned that novel methods may lead to misinterpretation of experimental results so they in this study, are attempting to reproduce the targeted effect in a different way. This is called systematic replication. They think that these empathic behaviors of opening the door are due to a desire for social contact, not actual empathy. The question is not whether the behavior will extinguish in the absence of social contact, but whether it will develop at all when no social contact is the first conditon of the experiment.
Because the motivation is different. Goes to show that the motivation for rescue behavior is not empathy, its anticipation of social contact
Sprague-dawley are albino rats. Main advantage over other strains is calmness and ease of handling. There are many other strains with varied purposes, Zucker rats as models for obesity, hairless rats that have immune dysfunction, Biobreeding rat that develops diabetes, etc.
Kind of cool Sprague Dawley strain developed at SD company in Madison in 1925
Rats become sexually mature around 5 weeks, “socially” mature around 5 months
Doors opened by computer controlled motors.
Used 27 sessions to match the number in Inbal Bartal’s extinction test.
Latency to door-opening across the three conditions.
Each bar represents 3 sessions (outcomes of 18 rat trials)
Y axis is a log scale of the latency in seconds it took the rats to open the door.
The line in the middle of the bars is the median, the ends of the bars define the interquartile range. 50 percent of latencies found are within this range.
Some must have taken way longer or way shorter.
Variation reduces across 2nd and 3rd conditions, maybe because rats were still learning in C1
Latencies increased across condition 1 (p value .03)
Latencies significantly reduced from C1 to C2 (p. value .03) Would have liked to see how much it would decrease if condition 2 extended.
Latencies indistinguishable from C2 and C3. Why aren’t they different? DO NOT ADDRESS THIS!
Latencies stay lower. Do not extinguish response in absence of contact
Were responses intentional? Latency to response increased when it caused greater distance between free and trapped rats. Latency decreased when it decreased distance between the rats. They were quicker to open the door when it meant the trapped rat would join it. Slower when it meant the trapped rat would be farther away. These changes are outcome-dependent and are a “hallmark of operant behavior and willful action”
This graph records then number of free-rat front door contacts. Remember that only the first “response” opens the door.
No data for C2 because when the front door was lifted (in other sessions the back door was lifted) the sensor went with it. It was out of reach of the rats.
They take this to mean that in condition 3, but not 1, free rats responded to front door with higher frequencies even though the trapped rat was already released from restraining tube.
Observed that in C3 trapped rats often returned to the restraining tube after they had been released. Could account for why the free rat was “responding” to the door so much. He was just trying to be nearer to the trapped rat that re-entered the restrainer.
Videorecord only the extra session of C3. In this condition, the free rat is in his arena and can release the trapped rat into a distal chamber by touching the metal strip above the door with her nose. Video record to determine how often trapped rats returned to the restrainer and how long they stayed there. And how often and for how long free rats were in contact with the restrainer. Videos scored by investigators (didn’t say if blinded or not)
After
For restrained rats – that’s just the time they spent in the tube AFTER the door had been opened.
Number of contacts and number of entrances for free and trapped rats respectively only count as different contacts if there was 1 second elapse between them. Otherwise they were counted as one contact and only duration increased.
Free rat snout contacts with tube were not recorded because it was often ambiguous whether it was close or actually in contact
Trapped rat location was not scored if free rat was sitting on top of the tube.
What is interesting here is rat pairs 1, 3, 4, and 5. Note that free rats (1 and 5) that spent a long time (the most time) in contact with the restraining tube, trapped rat spent very little time there (almost the least)
Vice Verse too.
Dashed line is the median response for the final three-block sessions from Condition 3, experiment 1.
No decrease is seen, which supports the social contact theory. If rats were motivated by empathy, you would expect to see their responses diminish when their responses cause no effect. But, responses do not decrease. That is what you would expect if responses occurred as a consequence of proximity because rats were motivated by social contact.
I think this calls into question all frequency data for responses. How easy was it for them to touch the sensor only by proximity?
How much does frequency data matter anyway if it only opens the door one time, and the door never shuts? Is it hard for rats to learn that?
Condition 1: Trapped rat was released into a distal chamber. Across sessions, the time it took free rats to open the door increased and the number of contacts they had with the sensor decreased. If they were motivated by social contact, free rats may have been deterred from responding because doing so increased distance between them.
Condition 2: Trapped rat was released into the same chamber as the free rat. This is compatible with both an empathic and a social-contact motivation for behavior (no frequency data)
Condition 3: Trapped rat was again released into the distal chamber. As would not be expected with a social contact hypothesis, response latency remained short, as short as in C2. If it were social contact, you would expect that to increase. Since it did not, empathy may have been the motivator
However, since response frequency remained high, and trapped rats were seen to return to the restrainer, responses may have been a coincidence with free rats wanting to be in close proximity to the trapped rat. Social contact. An empathic explanation would expect frequency to diminish.
Condition 4: Trapped rat could not be released from the restrainer by any action by the free rat. An empathic model would expect latency to increase and frequency to decrease. This again could be explained by free rats motivation to be close to the trapped rat.
Conditions 1 and two were equal, except that condition 3 was carried out over 27 sessions instead of only 15. Trapped rats returned to the restrainer in C3, but not C1. This is hypothesized to be because trapped rats were at first fearful of the rear door opening. By C3, that neophobia (fear of new things) had dissipated, and they could fulfill desire to be close to the free rat in the other chamber, and the closest they could get was back in the restrainer
Investigators of this paper cite Vasconcelos critera for inferring empathic behavior on an actor: Behaviors should be outcome dependent. It should not occur when rescue is not needed or if attempts fail to alleviate distress on the recipient. It should occur when it can be successful.
In condition 1, when action would be successful, free rats responded with lower vigor (increased latency, decreased frequency)
In condition 3, free rats continued to respond when rescue was not needed (trapped rats already liberated)
Because the motivation is different. Goes to show that the motivation for rescue behavior is not empathy, its anticipation of social contact
X axis results grouped in threes, y axis was in log scale. It may have made the graphs look better but its confusing to the reader. How long is that actually in seconds? Or even minutes?
There was no frequency data for C2. I think that would be interesting and important since the trapped rat is in the same chamber as the free rat. How would that change?
Also, validity of frequency data.
In the video scoring, snout contacts were not counted because they couldn’t tell if rats were actually touching the restrainer or just near it. First of all, why would you not count these, since rats almost exclusively used their snouts to touch the sensor? Rats sense of smell and sense of touch through whiskers (including short whiskers <1/4 inch, are extremely important to the way they percieve their world. Third, rats often use their heads/snouts to bite things and manipulate their surroundings. They don’t really use their paws except to groom themselves, bring objects to their mouth (to eat). It seems pretty important
Also, didn’t score trapped rats position when free rat was on top of the restrainer, because supposedly you can’t see if the trapped rat is in the restrainer or not. But if he’s not in the outside chamber, hes obviously in the restrainer.
The analysis of the videoscoring is also flawed. It tells how much time each rat spends in or in contact with the restrainer, but not whether any of that time is spent there concurrently.
Also, the metal strip as a means to open the door seems to invite more problems than it solves. It is not clear that rats know that they are opening the door (as it is in the other study, when the rat opens the actual door). I’m not sure about the validity of using the rats touching the sensor for frequency data.
Analysis of condition 4. They took the free rats staying near the restrainer to mean that they were only motivated to be close. But since rats are social animals, surely the free rats proximity to the trapped rat did something to alleviate his distress. I don’t think you can say its not empathy.
Its really hard to ascribe a mental state to another, and then to say that that mental state is the motivation for behavior is very difficult. There are too many unanswered questions. I don’t think study 2 was done well because it was too easy for the rats to open the door, and social contact really confounded it.
What would be interesting is to see if
1. Rats would not liberate a cagemate if it was not in distress
2. Rats would increase distance between themselves and another if it reduced the stress of the first.
I am going to fail to reject the null hypothesis. There is just not enough evidence to say that it is solely motivated by empathic feeling.