“The US president claims that ‘the empathy
deficit’ is a more pressing problem than the federal deficit, but empathy may
be merely a product of changing scientific fashions”
By: Mark Honigsbaum
Published: The Observer, Friday 4 January; www.guardian.co.uk or www.observer.co.uk Alternatively, just
copy paste the title and google.
Level of Difficulty: ***
BEFORE YOU READ
1.
What
is meant by the word empathy? Explain.
2.
Read
the subtitle of the text and state clearly to what extent you agree with Mr.
Obama.
QUESTIONS
1.
Was
the initial hypothesis of the researchers at the University of Chicago proved
or disproved as a result of the experiment with rats? How do you know?
2.
What
is the main idea of paragraph 3? Be careful!
3.
What
does “It” refer to in the sentence “It also confuses the different
psychological and philosophical meanings of empathy”?
4.
In
the phrase “The result is that”, the result of what exactly is the writer
referring to and what is the result as far as empathy is concerned?
5.
Read
paragraphs 9, 10 and 11. What conclusion can we draw from them?
6.
The
first clue to the empathy circuit came when………………………………………………………………….
7.
Which
of the regions of the brain mentioned in the text seems to have the greatest
significance as far as empathy is concerned? Why?
8.
Patients
with damage to the ventro medial part of the MPC are similar to psychopaths
with respect to …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9.
The
text states “Simon Barron Cohen, an expert on autism spectrum disorders, has
shown this is frequently not the case”. What exactly is the case according to
him?
10.
People
with Asbergers and psychopaths are similar in that …………………………………………. but
different in that ……………………………………………………………..
11.
Read
the example of Anders Behring Breivik carefully. What conclusion can we draw
from this example? You will need to tweak the text.
12.
Greater
perspective taking increases feelings of empathy because …………………………………………
13.
The
drop in societal violence in the last 300 years or so is down to ……………………………………
according to Steven Pinker.
14.
The
case of a blue collar criminal from the working class receiving a harsher sentence than he perhaps deserves compared to his
white collar and middle class accomplice proves that
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
15.
What
does “This” refer to in the phrase “In theory this should be good for Osborne”?
16.
Why
did “Romney spend the closing weeks of last year’s campaign desperately trying
to persuade voters that he was just as compassionate as Obama”?
17.
What
conclusion did Paul Zac reach as a result of the studies into chemical
reactions to empathy and economic exchange games?
18.
What
is the major difference between the altruism observed in animals and humans?
19.
Human
societies have evolved safeguards against possible misplaced trust by ensuring
that ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
20.
Does
the writer believe we are hard wired for pro sociality and morality or not?
WRITING TASK
Write a problem solution essay
describing the ways in which we can foster more empathy in society. Use the
points below and any others you can think of.
·
Perspective
taking
·
The
use of novels, television and the internet
·
A
reward system for altruism and charity
·
Education
·
Religion
BARACK OBAMA AND THE ‘EMPATHY DEFICIT KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES
This highly topical text should be covered after Deadly Dreams, which is
also on this blog in the same file, as the latter is about the psychology of
school shooters and the former is about empathy and how to foster it in
society. The text Stress and Urban Decay could be covered in the same week
making a lovely theme based week. Time should be made for the reading related
writing to be done in class.
1.
It
was proved; the researchers conducted a simple experiment to ascertain whether
a rat would release another rat from a cage without being given a reward and it
did.( Rats displayed empathy)
2.
Empathy
– or its absence – is everywhere these days
3.
Using
the same word to describe the pro social behavior of rats and similar behavior
observed in humans.
4.
(The
fact that) we mirror the distress of another and we are moved to alleviated
their suffering; empathy is one of the sentiments increasingly seen as social
glue and the evolutionary basis of human cooperation.
5.
A
survey of the historical and scientific literature reveals the meaning of
empathy has shifted significantly over time. You need to look back and see what it refers to.
6.
(in
1992) A group of Italian researchers neurons in macaque monkeys that fired both
when they picked up a raisin and when they saw a person pick up a raisin.
7. The medial prefrontal cortex;
because it is a hub for social information processing. This is all you need because the comma that follows indicates the rest
is an explanation.
8. Their responses when shown
distressing images; OR their heartbeats and other autonomic responses when
shown distressing images.
9. We are not primed for morality;
these circuits aren’t the source of humanity’s for intimate participation and
companionship.
10. They both have zero degrees empathy;
only psychopaths are capable of extreme cruelty.
11. There are cognitive dimensions to
empathy.
12. When we take an imaginative step
into the shoes of another person and see things from their perspective, we
become less capable of ignoring their suffering.
13. The marriage of empathy and
humanitarian reason
14. Empathy often leads us astray
15. The fact that liberals focus almost
entirely on care and fairness, conservatists seem to give equal weight to all
six dispositions.
16. Because the absence of empathy is a
powerful weapon with which to browbeat a political opponent.
17. Empathy and trust are two sides of
the same adaptive response.
18. Over the course of a lifetime,
humans (we) will cooperate with thousands of genetically unrelated strangers
with whom they are unlikely to interact again.
19. Social norms are learned,
cooperations are altruistically rewarded and free riders are altruistically
punished.
20. No
No comments:
Post a Comment