Inside the Animal Mind

     Our class, like many individuals are in the field of animal psychology, was divided as to whether or not the study conducted by Bartel et al. (2011) Actually measured the cognitive process it intended to support: Empathy. One of the most important aspects of an experimental design is validity: that the test conducted actually measures the aspect the researcher(s) are trying to support or reject. However, While Bartel et al. conducted an interesting study, the validity of their design was not nearly as well implemented as the study conducted by Panksepp & Lahvis (2016) .      As  you may recall, Bartel et al. (2011) conducted an experiment in which rats released a fellow cage-mate from a retainer as a test of empathy. While the video made the study appear to support the idea of empathy in rats, the article and further research conducted by Professor Manor painted a different picture in which the rats were more than likely responding to something they were conditioned to do

       Photo:   Lunja/Shutterstock.com         As hu mans we have the tendency to anthropomorphize the animals around us which we take care of. The biggest one that we expect to have similar feelings or at least understand our feelings would be dogs. We want to believe that they have empathy towards us and care about what we're feeling since we care about them so much as well.  In a UK study, two researchers looked to answer the question of if dogs show empathy towards their owners (or any person). In their experiment, they tested how dogs would react to their owner and a stranger showing some type of emotion in some sense, either humming or crying. Surprisingly even when the stranger showed distress, the dogs would seek them out. Deborah Custance, one of researchers, stated, " On the surface, it certainly seemed as if the dogs were demonstrating empathy" (Garrett, 2017). Empathy is a hard thing to identify though when you cannot ask the individual in questio

Cross Species Empathy  It is easy enough for us as humans to be able to relate to other animals because we understand how to be empathic. Take the example from the image above this comes from a nest cam that was put up online documenting the nesting habits of osprey. At first no one was really that interested in the nest. But all that changed with the two birds laid their eggs. Once the chicks had hatched the viewers went crazy with their comments on the feed. And when the chicks did not make it the site blew up like never before. It got to the point where the website had to be completely shut down because it could no longer handle the amount of visitors and comments that it was receiving! The reason this occurred is simple we as humans felt a level of empathy for the birds and that is what caused the extreme overuse of the site because we were able to relate to the birds struggles at raising a family on some levels. But even the ability to feel empathy for other species is

 As we have studied in class, studies have been conducted to test empathy in dogs and rats. Since the topic of empathy has been expanding in the animal psychology world, many other species have been tested such as chickens, elephants, chimpanzees, and orangutans. Mice have recently been tested by psychology professor Dr. Jeffery Mogil at McGill University to determine whether or not pain stimulus causes an empathetic reaction. This study was highly controversial and questioned the ethical components of experiments. This experiment actually came out of an accidental discovery of a pattern concerning a mouse's pain sensitivity to a pain test that was dependent on whether or not the mouse observed another mouse in the test. Sometimes, both mice who were cagemates were subject to the pain test at the same time. This prompted Dr. Mogil and colleagues to explore this behavior in mice by either injecting one mouse with acetic acid (found in vinegar) while the other one watches or inje

https://d31j74p4lpxrfp.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/int_files/chicken_sentience_blog_hero_rs.jpg Empathy is defined as the ability to  understand and share the feelings of another. Recent  studies show that primates, dogs, rats, and even insects such as ants show empathy towards their own species. A species that isn't talked about in class at all are chickens. Could they possibly possess the ability to show empathy to one another in their group? The answer to that question is yes they can! A study by  academics at the University of Bristol’s Animal Welfare and Behaviour research group in the School of Veterinary Sciences shows tha t domestic hens show a clear physiological and behavioural response to their chicks’ distress.  the procedure was quite simple. The article states, "When  the chicks were exposed to a puff of air, the hens’ heart rate increased and eye temperature decreased. The hens also changed their behaviour and reacted with increased alertness, and i

While there are few animals that exhibit any level of having a theory of mind aside from humans, I do believe there are more animals that show an understanding of self-awareness. I do not believe that self-awareness and theory of mind are direct parts of each other, but rather two separate levels of cognition in the mind of animals. Gordon Gallup developed the mirror test to find an answer to whether or not animals can be self-aware. Possessing self-awareness may be the first requirement in having a theory of mind because one would have to be able to recognize themselves through self-awareness to know that they are a separate being from another animal of the same species. One example of this is dolphins acting differently when looking at a mirror image of themselves instead of acting how they would if they came into contact with another dolphin. They swivel to look at parts of their body that they cannot see without the assistance of the mirror and flap their fins quickly as seen in

Self Awareness in Elephants Theory of Mind in a topic that is still being actively debated in animals today. Some argue that it is a trait that is solely present in humans while some argue that there are examples of theory of mind being displayed in animals. But just what would be define as theory of mind in animals being? The Animal Cognition textbook defines it as being any animal that believes that mental states play a role significant part in the animals behavior and understands the mental states of other animals or humans by observing their actions and behavior in certain circumstances (Udell & Wynne, 2013).  In the following video asian elephants are giving the mirror test to determine whether or not they posses "theory of mind". The asian elephants are able to complete the mirror task with hardly any trouble and as a result they display theory of mind. However not all animals have been able to display theory of mind. In fact only a handful of species hav

To start us off, here is a video that reviews the difference between some terms we have learned thus far such as intelligence, consciousness, and theory of mind.  This video brings up some good points that have not really been touched on in class. For example, all animals have intelligence but different types of intelligence. Worms reason similarly to humans in how to get the leaf inside their home, much like how humans reason how to bring furniture into their home. Because worms have simpler thoughts, does that necessarily mean they do not have the capability to analyze and consciously make decisions? This video also highlights the main questions around Theory of Mind, which is basically "How do we know what it's like to be a non-human animal?". To figure this out we have to put ourselves in their shoes.  We as humans, like to anthropomorphize all that is around us. We make take that worm bringing the leaf into it's home and say it is too simple

Primal behaviors and emotions are mostly involved with food, sleep, and sex however is it possible for animals to exhibit more complex feelings such as empathy? This Quote by Jane Goodall exhibits grief after the death of a chimpanzee: "Never shall I forget watching as, three days after Flo's death, Flint climbed slowly into a tall tree near the stream. He walked along one of the branches, then stopped and stood motionless, staring down at an empty nest. After about two minutes he turned away and, with the movements of an old man, climbed down, walked a few steps, then lay, wide eyes staring ahead. The nest was one which he and Flo had shared a short while before Flo died…in the presence of his big brother [Figan], [Flint] had seemed to shake off a little of his depression. But then he suddenly left the group and raced back to the place where Flo had died and there sank into ever deeper depression…Flint became increasingly lethargic, refused food and, with his immune syste

Many believe that dolphins are the only underwater species that can pass the mirror test and are considered to be self aware.  But based on the experiment done by Marc Bekoff from University of Colorado in Boulder and filmed by Csilla Ari at University of South Florida, this seems to be untrue.  There experiment suggests that Manta Rays pass the mirror test and are self aware.  The mirror test is used to test self-awareness in animals.  Only a small number of animals have passed.  Most have been primates.  In class, we learned that animals like Apes, Elephants, Dolphins, and Magpies have been able to pass the test while animals like Dogs and Cats have not.  This test suggests the animals that can pass this are self aware and understand what they look like. They filmed the Manta Rays doing the mirror test and he believes they are looking at themselves in the mirror and not showing signs of social interaction like it would with another ray.  Manta rays have the largest brains of

Have you ever had the feeling that you very clearly understand what your dog was telling you? What about your dog understanding you? It may very well be that you and your dog are in fact communicating effectively. Dr. Miklosi has done extensive research on dog communication and has come to hypothesize that dogs may be able to understand human communication well as a result of the long domestication history of dogs. Watch the video below to learn a bit of Dr. Miklosi’s research: Looking into Dr. Miklosi’s research, one can find that he has long been researching dog and human communication. In 2003, Miklosi began to question why dogs and humans may be able to communicate. He found that it may be that dogs are able to understand human communication because they are able to look to human faces when needing help (Miklosi et al., 2003). Miklosi and his team compared dogs’ ability to look at human faces when needing help to wolves. It appears to be that wolves do not do this w