Learning Module 2: Explore
Title: Do Fish Feel Fear? Understanding Emotional and Physiological Responses
Objectives:
 Explore ways in which emotional and physiological responses vary across species
o Present the idea that there is a distinct link between many emotions and
physiological responses in humans
 Explore how behavior may serve as an adaptation to survive
 Explore the evaluation of claims more thoroughly
o Develop an understanding of the importance of being aware of who
supports certain claims
o Create a foundation for the future introduction of the notion of
pseudoscience (see Lesson 5)
Materials and Preparation:
Background Information:
Terms:
adrenaline – a hormone released when under stress that increases rates of
blood flow and breathing in order to prepare muscles for exertion. Also
known as epinephrine.
emotion – state of mind instinctively occurring as a result of a situation or
mood
physiology – portion of biology addressing organisms’ normal functioning
survival – continuing to live as a result of adapting to one’s environment
when faced with difficult circumstances
reaction time – the amount of time it takes to respond to a situation or
event
anthropomorphism – applying human qualities to non-human species
Resources:
Animal Emotions: Exploring Passionate Natures
http://www.bioone.org/archive/0006-3568/50/10/pdf/i0006-3568-50-10-861.pdf
Fishes: Australian Museum Fish Site
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Fishes Feel Pain?
http://www.amonline.net.au/FISHES/faq/pain.htm
Fish Feel No Pain
http://abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1733327.htm
Common Dreams News Center
That Fish You Caught Was in Pain
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1008-26.htm
Rose, J.D. (2002). The neurobehavioral nature of fishes and the question of
awareness and pain. Reviews in Fisheries Science 10(1), 1-38.
Activities:
Attention Getter
The Big Game
Right before a big game, most athletes experience high levels of adrenaline.
Higher levels of adrenaline are beneficial for athletes because it often results in
heightened senses and a quick reaction time. The responses that occur as a result of high
levels of adrenaline are considered physiological responses because they have to do with
the athlete’s normal functioning. Emotion often affects the way our bodies respond to
situations. For instance, the athlete is most likely excited or anxious right before a big
game leading to an adrenaline rush. You may experience emotion affecting your
physiological responses if you get in a fight with your brother or sister or right before a
birthday party. Humans’ physiological responses are often clearly linked to a specific
emotion, but do you think all living things experience emotions connected to their
physiological responses?
Think & Write: What do you think? Do fish feel fear? Why do you think they
either do or do not feel fear?
Several Sides
In this section of the lesson, present arguments for why it seems like fish feel pain and
arguments for why they do not through two brief articles: That Fish You Caught Was in
Pain (substitute Fish Feel No Pain for a deeper reading) and Do Fishes Feel Pain?.
Remind students as they read to notice who (in society) is most likely to present and
defend the arguments in each article.
Note: The suggested way for presenting these arguments depends on the time allowed
and the nature of the class.
a) If you have more time and a more motivated class, read both articles (attached) as a
class and have students decide which side they agree with. This allows students to choose
what they are debating in the next section.
or
b) If you have a shorter amount of time and students that may not readily pick a side,
give half the class one article and half the class the other. After reading the articles,
students will be responsible for presenting what they have read in the form of a debate in
the next section.
Testing Theories
Activity:
Have students debate, as a class, whether or not fish feel fear. Remind them to use
science arguments to support personal anecdotes. Encourage the students to rely on the
articles they have read about fish pain and what they know about emotion and
physiological responses. Keep in mind that the discussion shifts here from pain to fear in
order for students to create their own hypotheses regarding a phenomenon
Next, in groups or as a class, introduce the tendency for humans to humanize animals.
Have students give examples of humanization, or anthropomorphism, (e.g., movies like
Finding Nemo, saying your dog is smiling). Discuss, as a class, the reasons for this
phenomenon and the resulting bias that may occur in studies and experiments. The
following excerpt from Rose’s (2002) study on fish pain and suffering regarding
anthropomorphism may assist in this discussion:
“The existence of these complex capacities in humans is not a justification for
presuming the existence of similar capacities in species that had very different
evolutionary histories leading to very different neurobehavioral adaptations.
Recognition of this basic difference in evolutionary histories is essential to a valid
understanding of the neurobehavioral differences between ourselves and other
vertebrates. This evolutionary perspective is critical because of the widespread
anthropomorphic tendency of humans to view other vertebrates as having mental
states similar to our own. So, in observing the actions of other organisms where
the actions appear to resemble our own, often it is assumed that these non-human
organisms have intentions and experiences similar to ours. This human tendency
to attribute mental states to others is called “theory of mind” and is probably the
basis for our tendency to feel empathy toward other people. Theory of mind is
thought to have evolved as a device for increasing our accuracy in predicting the
behavior of other humans (Bogdan, 2000; Macphail, 1998). If we
anthropomorphically apply the human theory of mind to other organisms,
however, we are increasingly likely to be mistaken as the neuropsychological
differences between ourselves and another organism increases.”
Think & Write: What do you think now about the explanations for whether or not
fish feel fear? Do you believe fish can be afraid?
Note to teacher(s): before presenting the information from the study on fish
emotion, remind students to consider the discussion in lesson one of what makes an
experiment valid.
Fish emotion study
Present the following details of Dr. Rose’s study:
Objectives 
Dr. Rose’s (2002) article answers the specific question of whether fish experience pain
and suffering by addressing the following issues and concepts among others:
1. Anthropomorphic thinking undermines humans’ understanding of other species.
2. Behavioral responses to harmful stimuli are separate from the psychological
experience of pain, such that behavioral responses to these stimuli can occur in the
absence of pain experience.
3. Fear is a neurologically impossible for fish.
Conclusions 
 “A principal cause for assumptions that fishes feel pain is an anthropocentric
interpretation of reactions by a fish to stimuli that probably would cause pain in a
human. There is no scientifically valid evidence in support of this assumption.”

“Regardless of the probable absence of the psychological experience of pain or fear in
fishes, these organisms are still neurologically well designed to react to injurious or
threatening stimuli with defensive responses.”

“In humans, pain is a psychological experience with a sensory-informational
dimension and a dimension of emotional unpleasantness or suffering. These
components of pain are experienced only in a conscious individual.”
Think & Write: Has your opinion about fish emotion changed? If so, how? If your
opinion has not changed, what new evidence would you use to support your opinion?
Reflection
Think & Write: What makes emotional and physiological responses a form of
behavior? How do you think these responses help species survive? Do only some living
things have emotional responses? If so, why do you think this is the case?