Dog Empathy Lecture at Town Square
Thursday, October 28
6:30pm - 7:30pm
Dogs have long been called man’s best friend, but now there’s scientific research behind it. Julia Meyers-Manor, Ripon College assistant professor of psychology, will give a free educational talk here at Town Square on Thursday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m. on her research on dog empathy and whether our best friends really do feel our pain.
Dogs have long been called man’s best friend, but now there’s scientific research behind it. Julia Meyers-Manor, Ripon College assistant professor of psychology, will give a free educational talk here at Town Square on Thursday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m. on her research on dog empathy and whether our best friends really do feel our pain. Professor Meyers-Manor's research interests are in emotion and cognition in non-human animals. As a professional dog trainer, she has particular interests in understanding dog cognition as well as behavior problems. Her research shows that dogs respond with comfort to an individual who was crying whether that person was their owner or a complete stranger. “Dogs have been companions to humans for over 15,000 years, but how has that relationship influenced a dog's ability to understand human emotions? Understanding empathy in dogs may help us in understanding the roots of human empathy and the consequences of using dogs as our emotional supports,” Meyers-Manor said.