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Perceptions of Animal Minds PERCEPTIONS OF ANIMAL MINDS by Lauren N. Maurer A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Charles E. Schmidt College of Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida December 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my thesis committee, Dr. David Bjorklund, Dr. Robin Vallacher, and Dr. Todd Shackelford, for all of their help with this undertaking. I would particularly like to thank Dr. Bjorklund for his unshakeable calm and his well-developed sense of humor, both of which I have appreciated immensely. I would also like to thank my fellow lab members, particularly Alyssa Raymond and Jason Grotuss, for lending their ears and their ideas as this study progressed, particularly in moments of difficulty. I would like to thank my DIS student, Amber Jackson, for her enthusiastic help with data collection, literature searches, and data entry. Of course I also would like to thank my family, whose support for me has been unlimited, no matter where the road has led. And finally, I would like to thank Noel Trew, whose limitless support and abiding faith—and technological savvy—have made everything infinitely easier. A sorrow shared is halved, and a joy shared is doubled. Thank you, everyone, for helping me “Keep calm and carry on.” Now, it's on to the next great adventure—Allons-y! iii ABSTRACT Author: Lauren Maurer Title: Perceptions of Animal Minds Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. David F. Bjorklund Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2010 Previous research into people’s perceptions of animals suggests that people view animals most favorably when they perceive them as being mentally like humans. This thesis examined whether animals perceived as threatening are still seen to be mentally similar to humans, but more likely to experience mental states associated with anger and aggression. Using three separate measures of people’s perceptions of animals, including one designed for this study, it was found that participants did indeed view the mental lives of animals differently when those animals were perceived to be threatening. Examination of the effect of the animal chosen showed that some animals are inherently seen as more threatening and less-human like. The implications of these findings for animal conservation efforts, reduction of human-animal conflict, and anthropomorphism in the study of animal cognition were discussed. iv DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Richard and Dawn Maurer. Their endless support and encouragement have helped me throughout my academic career, and they continue to be a source of strength and inspiration for me. Everything I have accomplished is a credit to their love and faith, and for all the opportunities I have ahead of me I am gratefully indebted to them. Thank you for everything. PERCEPTIONS OF ANIMAL MINDS List of Tables ......................................................................................................................ix Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 What Are Animals to Us?......................................................................................... 9 When Animals Become More than Human ...........................................................12 The Present Study ..................................................................................................14 Method ...............................................................................................................................17 Participants............................................................................................................. 17 Materials ................................................................................................................17 Procedure................................................................................................................ 20 Results................................................................................................................................ 21 Animal Attitude Scale ............................................................................................21 Animal Rating Scale............................................................................................... 21 Animal Rating Scale 1: Important to Humans ..........................................22 Animal Rating Scale 2: Smart................................................................... 22 Animal Rating Scale 3: Lovable ...............................................................23 Animal Rating Scale 4: Safe .....................................................................24 Animal Rating Scale 5: Important to Environment ..................................24 Perceptions of Mental States.................................................................................. 25 vi Factor analysis ...........................................................................................25 Complex Self-Aware ..................................................................................26 Simple Positive........................................................................................... 27 Aggressive ..................................................................................................29 Participant Background and Attitudes toward Animals .........................................30 Gender ........................................................................................................30 Dog .............................................................................................................30 Reptile ........................................................................................................31 Job ..............................................................................................................31 Believe in Evolution................................................................................... 31 Religion ......................................................................................................31 Services ......................................................................................................32 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................33 Animal Rating Scale............................................................................................... 32 Perceptions of Mental States.................................................................................. 34 Participant Background and Attitudes toward Animals .........................................37 The Other Uncanny Valley ....................................................................................39 The Human Animal ................................................................................................43 Moving Forward ....................................................................................................45 Appendices......................................................................................................................... 55 Appendix A ............................................................................................................55 Appendix B ............................................................................................................58 vii Appendix C ............................................................................................................59 Appendix D ............................................................................................................62 References.......................................................................................................................... 65 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Animal Pictures and Control Readings ......................................................47 Table 2 Non-Threatening and Threatening Reading Paragraphs ............................48 Table 3 Important to Humans .................................................................................49 Table 4 Smart ..........................................................................................................49 Table 5 Lovable....................................................................................................... 49 Table 6 Safe............................................................................................................. 50 Table 7 Important to Environment ..........................................................................50 Table 8 Factor Analysis and Complexity ................................................................51 Table 9 Complex Self-Aware Mental States ...........................................................52 Table 10 Simple Positive Mental States ...................................................................52 Table 11 Aggressive Mental States ...........................................................................53 Table 12 Religion and Animal Attitude Scale Score .................................................53 Table 13 Perceptions of Mental States by Condition and Attitude ...........................54 ix INTRODUCTION Humans’ relationships with animals are as varied as our relationships with each other. The beginning of animal domestication was one of the turning points of modern human culture: For many thousands of years, we have raised and bred animals for food, for labor,
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