9.916
Empathy & Helping
Today’s Lecture
Why do people “cooperate”?
- Evolved cooperator genes
- Acquire normative beliefs
- Caring about others welfare
(1) Proximal mechanisms
for sociobiology
(2) Attempt at multi-level
explanation
“A high level concept that
appears to have great potential
utility in bringing together
neural and psychological data
is that of empathy.”
Leslie Brothers, 1989
(1) How do we know what others are feeling?
(2) When & why do we respond by caring / helping?
[NB revisited on social perception,ToM,Aggression days]
How do we know
I.Two views
Observe other
(2) Allocentric
e.g. Leppanen & Nelson
Perceive others first
Understanding via
learning
Mirror
(isomorphic)
affect
(1) Egocentric
e.g. Singer & Lamm
Own emotions first
Understanding via
“matching”
Understand
other’s affect
Feel for / Care
Help
How do we know
2. Evidence of “matching”?
Not Numb
Left Insula
Numb
Right Insula
0.015
0.014
0.012
0.01
0.01
0.008
0.005
0.006
0.004
15 14 13 12 11 10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0.002
0
-0.005
15 14 13 12 11 10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
-0.002
% signal change (mean + S.E.)
(1) Pain: ACC / Insula
-0.004
TR
Figures removed due to copyright restrictions.
Rostral aMCC
-0.006
TR
Right Area 2
0.015
0.02
0.01
0.015
0.005
15 14 13 12 11 10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
-0.005
TR
0.005
15 14 13 12 11 10
-0.01
Numbed
Singer et al 2004, Lamm et al 2007
0.01
0
9
8
TR
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
% signal change (mean + S.E.)
-0.01
-0.005
Non-numbed
Figure by MIT OpenCourseWare.
How do we know
2. Evidence of “matching”?
(2) Disgust: Insula
Courtesy Elsevier, Inc.,
http://www.sciencedirect.com.
Used with permission.
Wicker et al 2003, Calder et al 2000
How do we know
2. Evidence of “matching”?
(3) Fear: Amygala
9 Amygdala
16 BDC
Adolphs 1999
Courtesy Elsevier, Inc., http://www.sciencedirect.com. Used with permission.
How do we know
2. Evidence of “matching”?
(1) Pain: ACC / Insula?
Morrison & Downing 2007
Courtesy Elsevier, Inc., http://www.sciencedirect.com. Used with permission.
How do we know
3. Evidence of “learning”?
Learn emotion you see,
Not the one you feel:
Happy-Fear
Happy-Sad
Angry-Fear
Angry-Sad
Figure removed due to copyright restrictions.
Leppanen & Nelson, Pollak & Kistler 2002
Courtesy of National Academy of Sciences, U. S. A. Used with permission.
Source: Fig. 2 in Pollak & Kistler. "Early Experience is Associated
with the Development of Categorical Representations for Facial
Expressions of Emotion." PNAS 99, no. 13 (2002): 9072-9076.
Copyright (c) <2002> National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A.
Why do we help
Understand
other’s affect
Feel for / Care
Help
7
Help
1
0.75
5
0.5
3
0.25
0
1
Nasty
Understand
Batson et al 2007
Nice
Nasty
Nice
Care
Figure by MIT OpenCourseWare.
Why do we help
Empathy Induced Altruism
Egotistical Altruism
Feeling for
motivates
improving other’s welfare
Feeling with
motivates
reducing own distress
18 - 24 month olds:
Adults:
15
Neutral
Empathy
Adults:
0
-15
100
Maximised other
30
-30
Van Lange 2008,Vaish et al 2009, Miller et al 1963
Monkeys & Rats:
75
50
25
Neutral
Harm
18 - 24 month olds:
Camera
B's face on screen
Sound
Prevent shock
0
B
A
Figures by MIT OpenCourseWare.
Wall
Why do we help
Empathy Induced Altruism
Egotistical Altruism
Feeling for
motivates
improving other’s welfare
Feeling with
motivates
reducing own distress
Easy
Dissimilar
Similar
Target
Monkeys & Rats:
Trials offered
Difficult
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Camera
B's face on screen
Sound
Prevent shock
B
A
Wall
Miller et al 1963, Batson et al 1981
Figures by MIT OpenCourseWare.
Empathy
(1) Proximal mechanisms
for sociobiology
(2) Attempt at multi-level
explanation
“A high level concept that appears to have great potential
utility in bringing together neural and psychological data is that of empathy.”
Leslie Brothers, 1989
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu
9.916 Special Topics: Social Animals
Fall 2009
For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.