Animal Emotions
Do animals feel joy, love, fear, anguish or despair? What ere emotions, and perhaps more importantly, how do scientists prove animals are capable of emotion? Sea lion mothers have often been seen wailing painfully and squealing eerily as they watch their babies being eaten by killer whales. Buffaloes have also been observed sliding playfully across ice, excitedly screaming “Gwaaa.” Emotions are defined broadly as psychological phenomena that help in behavioral management and control. This is a challenging question to researchers who are trying to determine the answer to this question. Through current research by close observation combined with neurobiological research, evidence that animals exhibit fear, joy happiness, shame, embarrassment, resentment, jealousy, rage, anger, love, pleasure, compassion, respect, relief, disgust, sadness, despair, and grief is likely. Charles Darwin said, “The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.” I agree with Darwin. I believe animals do exhibit emotions, and denying that animals have emotions because the subject cannot be studied directly is not a reasonable explanation.
One recent headline in the news showed an extraordinary event on film. When a three-year-old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure at the zoo, and was knocked unconscious. A female Gorilla named Binti Jua picked up the boy, and cradled him in her arms as if he was her own. The gorilla then gently carried the boy over to the caretaker’s door and set him down. Did the gorilla feel empathy for the boy? By watching the film alone the gorilla seemed to show emotions for the boy, but without studying the animal neurobiologically scientists cannot understand how her emotions and cognitions were linked.
One scientist, Damasio, provided an explanation how emotions can be felt in humans biologically. Damasio suggested, “Various brain structures map both the organism and external objects to create what he calls a second order representation. This mapping of the organism and the object most likely occurs in the thalamus and cingulate cortices. A sense of self in the act of knowing is created, and the individual knows “to whom this is happening.” The “seer” and the “seen,” the “thought” and the “thinker” are one in the same.” By mapping the brain scientists can have a better understandi...
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...ung children. He said “A greylag goose that has lost its partner shows all the symptoms that John Bowlby has described in young human children in his famous book Infant Grief. . . the eyes sink deep into their sockets, and the individual has an overall drooping experience, literally letting their head hang.” Elephants stand guard over a stillborn baby for days with their head and their ears hanging down like they were sad.
The experiments and other data show that animals are not just driven by instincts alone. There is more to them than that. It is hard to watch dogs play and believe that they derive no fun or pleasure from it at all. Animals have shown that they are sensitive to their social surroundings. They punish one another and alleviate other’s pain. Some monkeys in established communities attack those that find food and don’t share. These studies are important. A better understanding of how animals are feeling could create a whole new guideline of rules on the way animals should be treated. Humans should not be so arrogant to believe they are the only animals capable of emotion. How are we capable of seeing from their viewpoint and assume they feel no emotion.
Imagine that it is the year 1841 in Saratoga, New York and blossoms of the dogwood tree are swirling around your face as the wind gently tousles your hair. All seems well in the world, and, to Solomon Northup, great opportunities are coming his way. Two men, by the names of Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, had offered a dream job to Solomon. They had asked him to join them in a circus, playing the fiddle, an instrument Solomon had mastered. However, these men were not as honest as they seemed. Brown and Hamilton later drugged and kidnapped Solomon at a hotel one night during the tour. These men successfully forced Solomon into twelve years of slavery.
Gluck mentions that there are many ethical principles researchers must follow when conducting research on humans, but no document exists for primates. He states that research in cognitive ethology and neuroscience suggests that we underestimate animals’ mental complexity and pain sensitivity. However, if a human is the subject then the researchers are much more cautious. Due to the lack of acknowledging animals’ suffrage, Gluck’s argument is that our moral universe changes. Primates feel pain similar to humans. Humans rely on the ethical code of conduct during research. There is no ethical code of conduct for primates even though they feel pain just as humans do; therefore, our moral universe changes. The conclusion considering our change in morals is an inductive leap rather than a necessary
The first section explores the “flat-brain theory of emotions, flat-brain syndrome, and flat-brain tango” (Petersen, 2007, pp. 2-45). All three are interrelated (Petersen, 2007). The flat-brain theory of emotions “demonstrates what’s occurring inside of us when things are going well, and how that changes when they are not” (Petersen, 2007, p. 11). Petersen’s (2007) theory “explains how our emotions, thinking, and relating abilities work and how what goes on inside us comes out in the ways we communicate and act” (p. 8). The “flat-brain syndrome” describes what happens when an individual wears their emotions on their sleeve. This “makes it
Everyone has emotions and everyone deals with them differently. The psychologists in Japan have been more clinically correct and culturally sensitive to use psychotherapy techniques for dealing with depression. When the western markets came into their territory, the markets slowly began to manipulate the Japanese. In contrary, the people of that country might be getting more help from their psychological immune systems by not changing the way they label their feelings than they do with the medications. Animals who are constantly disrupted by humans have the ability to get tempered and show this anger through aggressive behavior. Elephants who have been taken away from their families and homes go through the most traumas and as the emotions start to build up, one day it will all just trigger. We cannot just sit back and watch these animals while they go through such distress. We know we have to help these animals without disrupting their environments. We can do so by psychologically healing these animals. Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, and to heal. It has been said, “time heals all wounds.” I
The biological perspective examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behaviour. It emphasizes that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behaviour, thought, and emotion. It is believed that thoughts and emotions have a physical basis in the brain. Electrical impulses zoom throughout the brain’s cells, releasing chemical substances that enable us to think, feel, and behave. René Descartes (1596–1650) wrote an influential book (De Homine [On Man]) in which he tried to explain how the behaviour of animals, and to some extent the behaviour of humans, could be like t...
Not only is nuclear power friendly to the environment, but it is almost always available, and many countries are starting to use it more. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind en...
Ma begins his paper by referring to the argument made by University of Southern California professor, and well established neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio. This argument states “that feeling and emotions expressed in art and music play a central role in high-level cognitive reasoning,” (Ma 258). Ma elaborates on this by mentioning how new advances in neurobiology have made it more clear that the human brain uses dual neural pathways for thinking processes, one for critical thinking and one for empathetic thinking (Ma 258). By doing this, Ma is able to show his audience that his ideas are supported by highly respected intellectuals in the complex field of neuroscience. Ma continues to add logic to his argument through his discussion of equilibrium. Ma piggybacks on the widely-accepted idea that equilibrium is the key factor for the survival of all forms of life. He states that, “Evolution is the balance between stability and the changes necessary to cope with new challenges in the environment,” (Ma 259). Ma implies that this “balance” is necessary in all aspects of life, including cognitive reasoning. This argument is very perspicacious in the appeal that it incorporates such widely-accepted
Stratospheric ozone absorbs 97-99% of ultraviolet radiation. As this protective layer continues to dissentigrate, human health will suffer. One American dies every hour from skin cancer, a direct result of ozone depletion by anthropogenic chemicals, primarily CFCs, which damage the ozone layer. Alternate chemicals are now being used in the place of CFCs that will not damage statospheric ozone, and there is international recognition of the importance of developing these chemicals. The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty which limits the production of ozone depleting substances. Still, human health is at risk from the deletion of ozone, and the risk factor will continue to rise unless people and industries become more aware of the implications connected with everyday use of chemicals which destroy stratospheric ozone.
As more money is invested in renewable energies and as research increases to improve their efficiency (Krozer 2012), support for renewables will further increase at the expense of nuclear power.
It all comes down to the mechanics of our senses and nature of our awareness. The self and the mind constitute a superposition of possibilities. The mind has many instruments with which to perceive, interact with, and interpret the world. The profound potential of these instruments are often exceeded by their limitations. The capacity of these instruments, and accuracy with which they interpret the world, to the mind, depend on the cognitive development and mindfulness of the individual; as well as that which is being observed. This constant input of data, happens at a conscious and subconscious level. This information informs emotions, behaviors, and world views. This system is analogous to a computer with many peripherals; necessarily limited, but sufficient to solve the average problem. Like the computer, our peripherals are governed by software; the sophistication of which, would appear to have many iterations, if observed at different points in history. Furthermore, this range of sophistication can also be observed within the lifetime of the individual. It is the neural sophistication of the human brain, which allows for, and institutes, the compartmentalization of this cavalcade of information, to help the individual navigate this reality. The brain both instructs and learns from its instruments. Our eyes distinguish light, determine depth, and assign color to the world. Our sense of smell allows for us to further identify and associate with our world. Ad to these, our hearing and sense of touch, and what we have is an experience; an ongoing image of
The film, “12 Years A Slave” tells an eye opening, very illustrative story of how slavery in the states was a cruel and sickening part of American history. The story follows a once free black man named Solomon Northup, a successful violinist with a family living in the north who gets abducted and forced into the slave trade then sold at an auction. The events that happen throughout the movie elaborate the brutality of slavery on blacks, it shows the effects of slavery on them and also the slave owners, and lastly it depicts how women both black and white were subject to authoritative treatment.
The documentary, “Amazing Secrets About the Human Brain” presented by the History Channel, explains how the brain works to people with little to no academic knowledge on the subject. The brain is “the most complicated device” humans have found, so it is certainly a topic of interest to many. In the past few years, knowledge of the brain has grown significantly. The documentary’s goal is to describe the complexity of the brain and how it influences various human behaviors, such as fear, sexual arousal, sports performance, and psychic mediums. With a minor shortcoming, the documentary does a sufficient job of introducing the complexity and workings of the brain to people with little knowledge of the topic.
12 Years a Slave is a very iconic movie about Solomon Northrup and his being kidnapped into slavery. Northrup was a free man, a professional violinist, and a farmer. After being drugged, he was shipped away from his family and forced to work in New Orleans. During his slavery, he was forced to pick cotton and endure many hardships for 12 years. Eventually, he was freed and returned to his family. The people who captured and enslaved him served no punishment for their crimes since blacks were not allowed to sue white people at that time. Solomon was stripped of all his rights not only as a human, but also as an American and was illegally put into slavery for 12 years.
Discuss the "cognition versus biology" debate in the study of emotion. Outline first the cognitive position and then the biological position. Discuss one possible, satisfying resolution to the cognition versus biology debate, using an original example to illustrate this
Emotion is the “feeling” aspect of consciousness that includes physical, behavioral, and subjective (cognitive) elements. Emotion also contains three elements which are physical arousal, a certain behavior that can reveal outer feelings and inner feelings. One key part in the brain, the amygdala which is located within the limbic system on each side of the brain, plays a key role in emotional processing which causes emotions such as fear and pleasure to be involved with the human facial expressions.The common-sense theory of emotion states that an emotion is experienced first, leading to a physical reaction and then to a behavioral reaction.The James-Lange theory states that a stimulus creates a physiological response that then leads to the labeling of the emotion. The Cannon-Bard theory states that the physiological reaction and the emotion both use the thalamus to send sensory information to both the cortex of the brain and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system. The facial feedback hypothesis states that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain about the emotion being expressed on the face, increasing all the emotions. In Schachter and Singer’s cognitive arousal theory, also known as the two-factor theory, states both the physiological arousal and the actual arousal must occur before the emotion itself is experienced, based on cues from the environment. Lastly, in the cognitive-mediational theory