This link is to a discussion among psychologists and neurobiologists about the origins of one particularly "human"-seeming emotion - empathy. Two issues I found interesting:
1. Church's study on the behavior of rats in response to electric shocks
2. mirror neurons
HW: In your comments below, identify two items from the article that piqued your interest, and briefly explain something about them to me - why you thought they were interesting, or what connections you see between them and what we've discussed in class.
i thought that the experiment with the rat and the lever was pretty cool even tho they couldn't see if the rat was feeling empathy for the other rat or just not wanting to get shocked.
ReplyDeletei didnt realy get the girls one was it like using all of the mice from one cage or sutten ?????/?????
By the way, it's not just the higher primates who exhibit sophisticated behavior like using tools: check out this article in today's news about tool-using octopodes.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8408233.stm
I thought that the Church experiment was an early experiment and proven by it's naivety. researchers were lacking the knowledge not to mention technology and insight that is present today. It is interesting that some people would convince themselves that the rats were actually feeling pain and in the interim other people are beileiving the opposite.Also, i found the mirror neurons interesting because it shows how a different theory can also be true. Which shows that the answer to the question "Do animals feel empathy?" has not been grasped yet and that none of these theories may be true, only arguementative.
ReplyDeleteI also found the rat and lever experiment to be interesting. Although it may not be empathy, mice and rats just may not have fully developed a sense of empathy yet, like mentioned at the end of the article. This would add evidence to the idea that the only thing special about humans is that we are more developed.
ReplyDelete"But the emotional connection comes first; understanding and imagination follow."
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't make sense to me, wouldn't you need to understand what was happening to the other person in order to feel empathy?
"A Foundation of Empathy I admire this study greatly. It is not the sort of manipulation we would nowadays apply to primates, but goes a long way towards confirming the tentative conclusions of the 1960s, only with more subjects and more rigorous controls. While it doesn't prove that the mice feel vicarious emotions, it demonstrates they experience a vicarious intensification of their own experience."
And this too, did this suddenly switch to talking about experiments on primates, and then back again, or was it always suposed to be talking about mice?
@Shershah: When you say "a different theory can ALSO be ture" and that "The answer to the question...has not been grasped yet" are you saying that the mice empathy study, and the mirror neuron study are contradictory? The way I see it they back each other up.
And on a completely different note, watch 1:50-2:15 for an interesting appllication of existentialist ethics in "No Atheists Allowed, Mandatory Christmas Carols"
http://www.youtube.com/user/theamazingatheist?blend=1&ob=4
I found the Rat with the Shock buzzer and the Mice injections ones to be interesting. It was interesting how the rat would react with pressing the button to get the food but also hurting the other rat in the cage. And the one with the injection was interesting because how the two mice reacted to the injections that made them go "crazy" i guess you could call it.
ReplyDeleteI found the rat and the lever experiment interesting. I did not believe that the rat was feeling empathy for the other rat i believe that he just didnt want to get shocked. This experiment is similiar to classical conditioning in psychology. If the rat continualy sees another rat being shocked whenever he eats food is just scaring the rat. For example every day an owner of a dog rings a bell and puts food out, then one day he rings the bell, but puts not food out the dogs still looks for food. Just like if the rat keeps seeing another rat being shocked it is a psychological reaction to not go eat the food. This has nothing to do with empathy.
ReplyDelete