28 ANTHROZOOLOGY theory, has come a renewed acceptance of anthropomorphism. prehistory to the present, including archaeozoology, anthro Ethologists have been joined by psychologists and philosophers pology and sociology; (ii) the effects of associations with in research into the minds of animals. This multidisciplinary animal companions on the development of personality, field of research, known as cognitive ethology, has resulted attitudes and other traits in humans, encompassing psychology in a multitude of investigations into consciousness, cogni and psychiatry; (iii) the therapeutic effects of companion tion, self-awareness and intelligence, as well as on whether animals; and (iv) the ethology of human—animal interactions. animals feel pain, anger, fear, love and have a theory of mind. A further two decades on, knowledge has increased in all of With the expanding research into animal minds has come these areas, and there have also been attempts to forge links the general realization that anthropomorphism does not between them to develop underlying theories of the human— disrupt scientific observation but supports the continuity animal ‘bond’, which will be covered in the latter part of this between humans and animals. A strong supporter of this view entry. is Frans de Waal who, in writing about attitudes to anthro— The roles of animals in human cultures have often been pomorphism, cites the example of his chimpanzee, Georgia, studied from an anthropocentric viewpoint and so fall who regularly ‘plays a trick’ on visitors by taking a drink of outside the scope of this volume. Archaeozoology has made a water and then spraying them with it from her cheek pouches valuable contribution towards our understanding of the (Waal, 2001). Waal then discusses whether believing that the behaviour and appearance of modern companion animals, by chimpanzee is consciously ‘playing a trick’ is an anthropomor enabling us to trace the early course of their domestication. phism; he argues that the most parsimonious conclusion is to However, for the domestic dog there are currently serious assume that the chimpanzee and the humans have a cognitive discrepancies between the timing of domestication as indicated similarity based on their close evolution, and he proposes the by archaeology and that suggested by the molecular biology of term ‘anthropodenial’ for the rejection of shared characteristics modern dogs and wolves. Moreover; the main focus of between humans and animals. archaeology and historical studies has been on the contribu It is from this milieu that the study of the interactions tions of animals to changes in human society, rather than on between humans and animals is developing, and the investi human—animal relationships. For example, the use of horses is gators in this field of research may be truly called the new cited as a major factor in the domination of the advanced anthropomorphists, to whom improvements in animal welfare societies of South America by a comparatively small number of are of prime importance. (JC-B) Spaniards. At the population level, the domestication of animals provided opportunities for infectious agents of animals Reference and further reading to transfer to the human host, creating such modern diseases as smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, measles and cholera. Most Kennedy, j.S. (1992) The New Anthropomorphism. Cambridge of these appear to have originated in agricultural animals, one University Press, Cambridge, UK. exception being the possible origin of whooping cough Waal, F de (2001) The Ape and the Sushi Master; Cultural R/lections (pertussitis) in the dog. by a Primatologist. Allen Lane, Penguin Press, London. However, relationships can occasionally be deduced from archaeological finds: the puppy found in a Mesolithic grave of Anthrozoology 12,000 YBP, buried beneath the hand of an elderly human, was Anthrozoology is the study of animal—human interactions. presumably a pet, whereas the knife marks found on some cat The combination of anthro-, meaning of humans, and zoology bones from mediaeval sites in Britain indicate that these first appeared in 1987 as the title of the journal Anthrozoös, animals had been killed to make cat-skin coats. and was later used for the name of the International Society The idea that pet keeping has a positive benefit on child for Anthrozoology (although anthropozoology would be more development is not a new one, although the underlying con correct etymologically). Applied literally, anthrozoology would cepts have changed. For example, many Victorians believed therefore encompass much of conservation science, animal that companion animals in the household could be used to welfare and applied animal ecology, but it is normally applied teach children an abhorrence of cruelty and the value of to studies of associ’itions, and especially relationships, between gratitude and fidelity, emotions that pets were presumed to individual humans and individual animals, rather than to display towards their owners, and these attitudes have persisted Interactions that take place at the population level, Anthro— in many societies up to the present day. More recently the zoology encompasses, but is not restricted to, study of the research emphasis has switched to the effects of pet keeping human—animal ‘bond’. ft should logically also include on the development of empathy. Pet keeping in childhood unsuccessful and dysfunctional interactions (although it rarely seems to be reliably associated with positive attitudes towards does). animals in young adulthood, and there appears to be a link The current tradition of research into human—animal between empathy towards animals and empathy towards interactions is usually considered to have begun with a paper humans. by the psychiatrist Boris Levinson in 1962, which described Empathy is a complex construct that is generally considered the effects of interaction with a dog on a young patient of his. to have both cognitive (‘I can imagine what you are thinking’) Two decades later; by which time several research centres had and affective (‘I can feel what you are feeling’) components, appeared, particularly in the USA, Levinson addressed one of and it is not yet clear precisely which aspects are most affected the first major conferences in this ficld, in Philadelphia, where by pet keeping. The fess studies of pets used as an intervention he sugestcd four areas on which future research might focus’ in educational settings have generally reported an increase in (i) the role ot companion animals in human cultures from empathy, but associations between pet ownership and empathy ANTHROZOOLOGY 29 in children appear to be more complex: for example, one study disabilities, perhaps because interaction with the dog is found slightly higher empathy in dog owners, but lower experienced as non-judgemental and unconditIonally positive. empathy in cat owners, compared with non-owners. Since Ethology, the study of the behaviour of animals in their most family pets are chosen by parents, the latter association natural habitat, has made only a limited contribution to could be due to a personality characteristic of parents that anthrozoology, largely because in its modern form it drives both a preference for cats as pets and an inhibition of specifically addresses, or at least implies, the evolutionary the development of empathy in children, rather than a negative origins and adaptive functions of behaviour. These are not easy effect association that a cat has on the development ofempathy. to unravel for domesticated animals whose behaviour has been Whatever the mechanisms involved, it seems likely that both consciously and unconsciously selected by man. However, different species of companion animals may have different ethological concepts such as dominance, territoriality and effects on emotional development, and that classifying them imprinting have been widely used to interpret the behaviour all as ‘pets’ may be an oversimplification. Moreover, research of pet animals. For example, the behavioural disorders of pet in this field has overwhelmingly focused on the development cats are often divided into those of ethological origin, i.e. of desirable traits, and the possibility that not all pets may be normal behaviour that would have been adaptive to the cat’s beneficial for all children has barely been considered, even wild ancestors but is objectionable to owners, such as spray- though links have been established between abuse of animals urination, and those that are abnormal, such as pica. and violence towards people. The concept of socialization, largely derived from the A variety of benefits to health have been proposed for pet ethological theories of imprinting and sensitive periods, is the ownership, and for emotional attachments to animals, and cornerstone of our understanding of how young companion there has been much discussion about the role of pets in animals learn to react to humans and other species, and how enhancing various aspects of human quality of life. In societies behavioural disorders can result from deficiencies in this where they are well accepted, dogs act as catalysts for social process. In addition, ethological methods, involving the interactions, especially between owners and people they have detailed observation of animals in their normal surroundings, not met before, thereby expanding existing social networks. with minimal interventions, have been used to provide detailed Similar effects have been observed for trained assistance dogs,