Re: Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:05:56 -0700, the following appeared
in talk.origins, posted by Vernon Balbert
<vbalbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2008) ? Children between the ages of seven and 12
appear to be naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain,
according to researchers at the University of Chicago, who used
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to study responses in
children.

The responses on the scans were similar to those found in studies of
adults. Researchers found that children, like adults, show responses to
pain in the same areas of their brains. The research also found
additional aspects of the brain activated in children, when youngsters
saw another person intentionally hurt by another individual.

"This study is the first to examine in young children both the neural
response to pain in others and the impact of someone causing pain to
someone else," said Jean Decety, Professor in the Departments of
Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.

The programming for empathy is something that is "hard-wired" into the
brains of normal children, and not entirely the product of parental
guidance or other nurturing, said Decety. Understanding the brain's role
in responding to pain can help researchers understand how brain
impairments influence anti-social behavior, such as bullying, he explained.

Read the rest at:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080711080957.htm

But it does make one wonder about the veracity of those claims that say
without religion we wouldn't have morals or ethics.

Religion aside, I suspect if they'd tested unsocialized
children with no ethical training the results would have
been significantly different; by the age of seven most
children (at least those with competent parents) are well
along toward full socialization, which includes both empathy
and the beginning of a code of ethics. But I suppose if they
assume "brain impairments" cause antisocial behavior (which
they did, according to the article) they'll deduce that
children are naturally empathetic. Seem like circular
reasoning to me, but what do I know...
--

Bob C.

"Evidence confirming an observation is
evidence that the observation is wrong."
- McNameless

.

Relevant Pages

  • Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral
    ... The responses on the scans were similar to those found in studies of adults. ... Researchers found that children, like adults, show responses to pain in the same areas of their brains. ... The programming for empathy is something that is "hard-wired" into the brains of normal children, and not entirely the product of parental guidance or other nurturing, said Decety. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Empathy comes naturally to children: study
    ... Empathy comes naturally to children: ... When children see others in pain, their brains respond as if it were ... empathy," said Jean Decety of the University of Chicago, whose study ... Decety said he hopes to use these results to better understand brain ...
    (sci.med.psychobiology)
  • Re: Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral
    ... The responses on the scans were similar to those found in studies of ... pain in the same areas of their brains. ... Displaying certain patterns of brain activity when observing people ... childrens. ...
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  • Re: A request for information please.
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    ... >>> Maybe you didn't notice the accompaning diagrams of a fish and a human ... >> In order to show that the bit of the brain which perceives pain isn't ... I'm insisting that the rest of the nervous system is generally involved int ...
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