Consciousness
Dogs and Monkeys Have “Human-Like Sense of Morality,” Researchers Prove
Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan have found that dogs and capuchin monkeys have a human-like sense of morality. In particular, they react less positively to humans who are less kind, less willing to share or assist other people.
Their paper was published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
They performed three experiments designed to test the morality of animals, and how they would respond to rude or kind humans.
According to Phys.org:
“In the first experiment, a capuchin monkey was allowed to watch a scene in which a person was trying to open a can. After failing, the person asked another person for help—in some cases, the other person complied, and in some cases, they did not. Also in some cases, there was another person present who did nothing, serving as a passive actor in the scene.
In the second experiment, the researchers positioned a capuchin monkey to watch as two people arrived with three balls each. One of the people then asked the other person to give them all of their balls and the other person complied. Next, the person who had given up their balls asked the other to return them—in some cases the other person complied, and in other cases refused.
The third experiment was nearly identical to the second, except it involved dogs, their owners and another person unknown to the dog.”
It is common sense that animals feel us, can tell when we have a bad attitude, and can sense much more, and now science is quantifying that.
Do we even need science to quantify it?
Featured image: Credit: CC0 Public Domain
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