Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on psychological research methods
Psychology analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on psychological research methods
There are many theories today the support the idea of animals having emotions. I personally believe that ducks have emotions. Many of the class readings such as “Yes, Animals Have Feelings” by Jonathan Balcombe, and Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin support the theory of animals having emotions. My definition of emotion is a state of mind that is based off internal or external circumstances. I started observing ducks to help support my idea the ducks have emotions. By using the readings and combining it with my observations I had a case for ducks having emotions. I am observing changes in behavior or actions that show emotions such as happiness, trust and caring. The article ‘Yes, Animals Have Feelings” by Jonathan Balcombe discusses …show more content…
The third day I observed the ducks in the evening. I chose this type of method because I could get multiple observations in a small period of time while focusing on many ducks instead of just one. I made observations based on how the ducks interacted with one other based on the situation the ducks were in. The observation were to support ducks have feelings. My hypothesis that ducks have feelings is based off my own observations while using texts from other sources to support it. I used the article “Yes, Animals Have Feelings” which discusses how animals do have feelings to support my hypothesis. Balcombe states, “Their desire for rewards is part of sentience — the capacity to feel” (Balcombe). While observing the ducks I wrote down their behaviors and linked them with an emotion. Some of the emotions I saw in the ducks were happiness, trust, and caring. One of the observations I made was when many of the ducks were in the pond. The ducks would chase each other around in the pond as if they were playing. Before they began chasing each other I watched to see if there was a reason behind it such as taking food away from the other duck or irritating the duck in anyway. I did not notice any type of …show more content…
One example of a scientist who disagrees with animals having emotions is Daniel Dennett. He believes only humans are capable of consciousness, which includes having emotions. Evidence supporting emotions in animals is a new idea and was usually disregarded until now. I disagree that my observations only show instinctual behaviors. Showing a form of play is not an instinct. There is a reason behind why humans play and it would be the same for animals. Humans do not just play for any reason; they play because it makes them happy. Animals do the same. The ducks were playing to make themselves happy. I would agree that ducks do travel in groups together for long distances. Learning to trust each other to cross a road is not an instinct a duck is born with. The ducks spend hours together and observe the other ducks. Once a duck has watched another duck cross the street they trust that they can do the same. Many animals instinct is to fight for food because they might not know when their next meal is. Duck are caring when it comes to respecting the ducks around them. They do not fight and cause harm to any of the other ducks while going after food. My observations support my thesis that a duck has emotions and is not just
In the article “A change of heart about animals” author Jeremy Rifkin uses rhetorical appeals such as ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade humanity in a desperate attempt to at the very least have empathy for “our fellow creatures” on account of the numerous research done in pursuit of animal rights. Rifkin explains here that animals are more like us than we imagined, that we are not the only creatures that experience complex emotions, and that we are not the only ones who deserve empathy.
Hess, U., & Thibault, P. (2009). Darwin and Emotion Expression. American Psychologist, 2, 120-124. doi:10.1037/a0013386
Rene Descartes and David Hume lived in two completely different time periods, yet they shared interest in some of the same philosophical categories. Could animals reason? How did humans expand their knowledge compared to animals? Questions like these were answered both by Descartes and Hume even though they had two opposing views. Descartes was the first to address the questions about animal instincts, and later on Hume set out to refute some of his ideas.
For many years, people assumed that humans are significantly different from other species, which made them somewhat superior. However, research on animal behavior, especially our closest relatives, the apes has led to new discoveries that show many similarities between human and animals. Some of these similarities have questioned the uniqueness of humans and have led to debates not only among scientists but in the public as well. Frans de Waal, a renowned primatologist and the author of The Ape and the Sushi Master, is among the scientists that claim animals and humans are quite similar. The main focus of his book is to show that culture is not exclusive to humans. De Waal was not the first scientist to propose the theory that animals have culture nonetheless; it was received with a lot of enmity. He attributes this to the fear of losing the qualities that make humans special. Claims of language in apes became so threating that animal research was almost banned. According to de Waal, “attempts of censorship do reveal just how much insecurity surrounds human uniqueness”. (32) In an attempt to support his argument, he addresses the controversial issue of morality in animals. Morality is considered a cultural aspect and therefore people often use cultural biases in decision making. Dan Kahan, a psychologist, referred to this as cultural cognition, which “refers to the tendency of individuals to conform their beliefs about disputed matters of fact to values that define their cultural identities”. Subsequently, theories on morality depend on the perspective of the scientists who carry out the research. De Waal supports his theory by analyzing aspects of morality in humans and comparing them to animal behavior.
Until recently, science has underestimated the extent to which animals feel and understand. Jonathan Balcombe recognizes, in his book Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals, that
Arluke, A. (1994). Managing emotions in an animal shelter (pp. 145-165). Animals and human society.
One famous pioneer in this area is Ekman (1973 in Shiraev & Levy, 2007, 2004) who classified six basic facial expressions as being universal and reflecting most emotional states. They are happy, sad, anger, disgust, surprised and fearful. Ekman (1973) proposed that the universality of emotions allows individuals to empathise with others and enables us to read other’s feelings therefore emotions must serve an adaptive purpose hence supporting the claim that they are universal (Darwin, 1972 in John, Ype, Poortinga, Marshall & Pierre 2002). Moreover, emotions are widely accepted to accompany...
When Pepperberg began her dialogue with Alex, who died last September at the age of 31, many scientists believed animals were incapable of any thought. They were simply machines, robots programmed to react to stimuli but lacking the ability to think or feel. Any pet owner would disagree. We
The observational method is when researchers use their senses to observe, examine, and record behaviors in a natural setting. This means there is no interruption or manipulation by the researcher. In order to enhance this type of research,
Before describing chosen theories, it is necessary to define the notion of “emotion”. Due to the definition that is made by a psychologist Hockenbury, emotion is “a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and an expressive response” (Micallef-Trigona, 2014, n.p.).
These voluntary actions are then used to express empathy because they are able to put themselves in the position of the other dog, thus they are willing to do “voluntary acts”. For instance, in “Task Differences and Prosociality; Investigating Pet Dogs’ Prosocial Preferences in a Token Choice Paradigm,” dogs in pair of twos were situated in a lab and one dog had the choice to press a button or pull a lever that would present their partner food. If the dog knew its partner, then the dog was more likely to be prosocial and generous and allow the other dog to eat. (Dale et al.). Thus showing empathy through being prosocial by actively aiding another dog in which this canine knew well. Consequently, both dogs would benefit as the first one feels validation because of its good deed, while the other is satisfied due to the fact that its basic needs are being met. However, as later seen in Dale et al.’s study, as much as a dog can be generous, it can also be apathetic and even cruel if it does not know the dog well enough. Later on in the study, the dogs were instead paired with a partner they did not know, and in those circumstances, the dogs were ten times more likely to not enable their partners to eat. That might be due to not pressing a mere switch or pulling a lever (Dale et al.). This shows that dogs can be apathetic and even antisocial by ignoring or not even noticing the signs being demonstrated by their partners. This further shows how dogs can convey empathy, because it illustrates these mammals’ ability to choose whether or not to internalize the other mammal’s situation and act upon it. Which shows that dogs possess a higher level of understanding in the ways in which these mammals can express and give empathy. In closing, while dogs can express empathy
Throughout our lives we have all felt happy, sad, lonely or even lost. These are what we would describe as emotions or feelings. But have you ever thought if animals feel the same as humans? Our textbook defines emotion as; psychological changes and conscious feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness, aroused by external and internal stimuli, that lead to reaction (Davis & Palladino, 2013). Charles Darwin was among the first scientists to come up with the idea that animals have emotions. I will discuss some facts that help to prove the emotional characteristics of animals. This of course is just my opinion and others may think differently.
In society today there has been a lot of talk about animal intelligence and how they and we interact with them. Many pet owners believe that their pet is intelligent and compassionate, but some people and scientist don’t believe it's true. Well, I believe animals are intelligent and compassionate, but don’t have a sense of awareness of their actions.
To her, at least, he has more emotions than we do. All these thoughts came into my mind when I saw this question. And my answer was… it is human consciousness is no way different from animal consciousness till I started reading about this online.
From the moment they wake up, people experience events that trigger certain emotions. How people react to these events may depend on that person feels during that event. In terms of whether our emotions control us or we control our emotions, I believe that to some extent emotions control us. Because we cannot change how we feel in response to certain stimulus, emotions control us. However, people have some control over whether or not they act on their emotions. Emotions at that given moment can influence our actions. If people can control their reactions, then to some degree we are controlling our emotions. However, the prompts raises several important questions. How can one’s emotions alter other ways of knowing such as perception or reason?