Dear Tipsters,
The question of whether animals react to different kinds of people
may be viewed from Donald Olding Hebb's discussion of prejudice.
He points out that it is often assumed that prejudice is socially
acquired. However, he reports that animals react fearfully to
strangeness ("perceptual discrepancy), and that these reactions
occur to more complex stimuli as we ascend the phylogenetic
scale. So, for example, a rat will cringe in strange surroundings, a
dog will react to strange objects (e.g., a balloon being blown up; a
large statue of an animal), and a chimp will show panic when
presented with a lifelike model of a chimp head.
These observations lead Hebb to argue that such fear reactions are
deep-seated, and that prejudice may, in part at least, reflect a
similar process.
I do not know if there has been systematic observations of whether
dogs vary in their reactions to different kinds of people (with smell
controlled). However, from Hebb's argument, we might predict that
a dog might well show a startle or fear reaction to people who look
different from the ones with which it is familiar.
Sincerely,
Stuart
Hebb, D. O. (1958). A textbook of psychology. Philadelphia:
Saunders.
Hebb, D. O., & Donderi, D. C. (1994). A textbook of psychology
4th ed. revised. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt.
___________________________________________________
Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., Phone: (819)822-9600
Department of Psychology, Extension 2402
Bishop's University, Fax: (819)822-9661
3 Route 108 East,
Lennoxville, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quebec J1M 1Z7,
Canada.
Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page:
http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
___________________________________________________
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
