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Research Paper: Powerpoint:

Do animals feel Empathy? How can empathy be measured in animals? How does an animals heartrate reflect on its "empathy"? Cat--all three questions could actually be put together for a research project. How have other researcher operationally defined empathy (how you know if you have some of it and how much of it you have)? What are your ideas on how to measure empathy? I really like this project so now it is time to get to specifics. Mrs. Ashley

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[] Although the title of this is "Animal Kindness" I think that the empathy that the cheetah shows is very apparent. By protecting and helping the chimp, it shows love and affection to a baby that has lost its parent. As an easy target, it would be assumed that the cheetah would take the baby for food, but the video proves differently. I think this is a great example of animals and empathy.

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These articles show examples of how to measure empathy in humans. Although the most common form of measuring empathy is through a questionnaire, there are other ways. Empathy has also been measured by monitoring heart rates and skin conductance. The results of these imply that there is a nervous network for empathy and emotional response throughout a persons body. However, I believe this can be tested on animals as well. A heart rate monitor can be placed on an animal and then a test (such as taking away the animals baby or cage mate) could be placed. If a change in the beat occurs, then it could imply that the animal is feeling emotional restlessness or unease because the other animal is feeling abducted.

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Although monitoring brainwaves is much more expensive, it would probably be the best was to test empathy in animals. In the link above, scientists test brainwaves during tasks as simple as a person being touched versus watching someone else be touched. Similar patterns go off because when you see someone be touched, you immediately think of the feeling yourself. Empathy could actually be a brain function that is so simple it is constantly overlooked.

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This article describes how mice are able to associate a certain noise with a positive or negative feeling. The scientists gentle shocked one mouse in the foot, allowing it to let out a distress call or squeak. Without any direct knowledge of the foot shock, another mouse heard the distress squeak and immediately associated the testing chamber with a negative tone. There was a clear response to the shocked mouse's call, with the other mice stopping in their cage and freezing up. It is also believed that there is a genetic component to be able to perceive and act upon another beings emotions.

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In this document, it is shown that if a rat saw another rat in a neighboring cage press a lever that would admit a shock, it would attempt to stop the rat or interrupt its activity. Even with food in front of the opposite rat, it still attempts to stop the other from being shocked. But it is then proposed that the rat isn't trying to stop the other from getting hurt, but that it is scared the other rats actions will affect it.