Comp 6 Flashcards
Do animals have emotions like humans?
Mobbs et al 2003 said there needs to be a biological system to induce emotion, such as the limbic system. There also needs to be a genetic basis. The same emotions should occur early in development and across cultures (Sauter et al. 2010).
There needs to be similarities between humans and apes in form and function. If you tickle an ape, the ape may produce a vocalisation of joy. Is this a shared ancestry or different phylogenetic origin?
Animals have emotions and express them. These emotions and behaviours represent an importnat component of animal communication.
Did human emotional expressions emerge from displays or ancestral apes?
Most accurate analysis available is the phylogenetic analysis. If there is a a continuous expression we may conclude yes. Ticking apes and humans - laughter has a pre-human basis, expresions of humans emerged from ancestral apes (Davila-Ross et al., 2009; 2010).
We need to be able to react to the environment and emotions represent an important component of animal communication - espeically in group living to strengthen and form social bonds.
Human laughter has two forms - unvoiced laughter (grunt-like and snort like) - this refers to no periodicity in vocal fold vibration.
And voiced laughter (song-like), refers to a periodicity in vocal fold vibration.
Discuss empathy
Empathy consists of emotional contagion, cognitive empathy and theory of mind. Advantageous across social domains (building relationships). But defining empathy is hard. Hoffman (2000) identified empathy as any process where the attended perception of the objects state generates a state in the subject that is more applicable to the objects states or situation than to the subjects own prior state or situation.
Do animals have the ability to empathize?
Preston and de Waal (2002) identified the perception action model of empathy (PAM). Empathy as an overall process has a proximate and ultimate basis. This model distinguishes imitation from empathy - imitation includes true imitation, emulation, coordination and shared goals, and motor mimicry. Whereas empathy includes perspective taking and targeted helping, sympathetic corner and consolation and emotional contagion.
Empathy develops during mother-infant interactions in humans. 1 year olds are able to show individual differences in empathy-related skills. It has been argued that empathy envolved within mother-infant interactions prior to humans.
If emotions are universal, there must be genotypes that help generate biological systems to induce them. True or false?
True
The perception-action model for empathy was developed to examine empathy and its related phenomena as an overall process. True or false?
True
Give an example that could be present in animals for the coodination and shared goals (imitation) aspect of PAM
Hunting in wolves - they need to be able to understand eachothers goals and know they are all working towards the same thing. They must each be coordinated with eachother to maximise the chances of a successful hunt.
Give an example that could be present in animals for the consolation (empathy) aspect of PAM
Fraser et al., 2010 found that ravens may have the ability to console victimes with whom they share a valuable relationship, in order to alleviate the victims post-conflict distress.
Give an example that could be present in animals for the emulation (imitation) aspect of PAM
Emulation is copying the end result of a task. Chimpanzees have been characterised as emulators from as early as 1987 (Tomasello et al.). Chimps exposed to a model using a stick tool to rake in food were more likely to acquire this behaviour than the controls that saw no model, but they did not copy a technique the model had developed, Tomasello interpretted this as a failure to imitate and instead called it emulation.
Give an example that could be present in animals for the motor mimicry (imitation) aspect of PAM
The most deep seeded aspect in the imitation section of PAM. Mancini, Ferrari & Palagi (2013) defined rapid facial mimicry as an automatic response, whereby an individual mimics another’s expressions. This is present in humans and apes, but this study also demonstrated it in old world monkeys. Davilla Ross and colleagues also found rapid facial mimicry in orangutan play and Taylor found it in sun bear play.
Give an example that could be present in animals for the perspective taking (empathy) aspect of PAM
Chimpanzees have been found to, in competition settings with conspecifics, know what the conspecifics have and have not seen, and they use this information to devise effective social-cognitive strategies. Hare, Call & Tomasello, 2001.
What is emotional contagion
This is the tendency to automatically mimic and syncrhonize facial expressions, vocalisations, postures and movements with those of another and consquently to converge emotionally.
Or more simply, when one goes through the same emotional states as others, and Preston and de Waal (2002) named it the most rudimentary form of empathy.
It involves automatic responses. This is why motor mimicry and rapid facial mimicry may suggest emotional contagion as they can be automatic and unconscious.
When do motor mimicry, imitation and contingent movements occur?
May occur when we share the emotions with others. The chameleon effect is uninetntionally copying others. These types of movements may promote affiliation and empathy.
How can yawns help show evidence for empathy?
People with autism, who have an empathy-deficit disorder, show no yawn contagion, but they can produce spontaneous yawns.
However, it has been found chimpanzees and dogs have the ability to copy a yawn after a human demonstratorr does. However, this is very hard to distinguish from imitation on the PAM model - it may just be imitation.
Discuss imitation
In terms of solving problems, imitation is present in both children (2-4) and chimpanzees. However chimps also demonstrate emulation. Another form of imitation is goal emulation. This is where someone replicates the intended goal of a model but not the models actions. It develops rather late in comparison to other forms of social learning mechanisms such as mimicry and imitation.
Primates recognise being imitate and respond to it. Implicit recognition (increased attention) has been noted in human infants and macaques. Explicit recognitioin (testing behaviours = actions to test the contingent relationship between interacting individuals) has been found in human infants and great apes.
These imitiations promote affiliation in capuchin monkeys, as imitators were preferred to non imitators, they gazed at them longer, spent more time in proximity and interacted more.
