Jump to content

Panksepp On "ancestral Memories", Or Emotional Rewards


 Share

Recommended Posts

I've been watching

in 10 minute blocks over the last couple of days. The first speaker is Jaak Panksepp, who is the coolest thing in animal training at the moment for his work on emotional (affective) brain circuits. Here he talks a bit about the problems with Behaviorism, and a bit about detecting emotional states and things that are inherently rewarding, and emotional communication.

For a much shorter and cuter introduction to Panksepp, here's a video of rats laughing when they are tickled. :confused:

I think it is freaking awesome that there are scientists out there tickling animals for a living. :o
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For a much shorter and cuter introduction to Panksepp, here's a video of rats laughing when they are tickled. :love:
I think it is freaking awesome that there are scientists out there tickling animals for a living. :love:

That is a cute length of video footage. I'm envious of those who were employed/engaged to study tickle effects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tickling rats would be a fun job! But realising they're laughing and then thinking of using the transducer so humans could hear the sounds made, that's amazing. I wonder how many other responses/signals we miss out on because we don't hear them, or rather listen for them?

Patricia Simonet has researched dogs laughing and the effect of a recorded laugh on shelter dogs. http://www.petalk.org/DogLaughSpect.html http://www.petalk.org/LaughingDog.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder how many other responses/signals we miss out on because we don't hear them, or rather listen for them?

Corvus, unfortunately due to a computer problem I cannot access youtubes.

Nevertheless jigsaw and others, enjoyed your responses. We mere humans can only dream of reading body language as well as our canines. I greatly enjoy watching various dogs at different endeavours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patricia Simonet has researched dogs laughing and the effect of a recorded laugh on shelter dogs. http://www.petalk.org/DogLaughSpect.html http://www.petalk.org/LaughingDog.pdf

That is quite cool. :laugh: I played it to my dogs. Erik came rushing over to see what the deal was, but Kivi laughed back at me! At least I think it was a laugh. Maybe it was a breathy whiney almost-bark thing. You always have the coolest links. :bolt: You must spend more time researching the literature than I do!

For those unable to watch the video, Panksepp made the point that it wasn't enough or even accurate to say an animal's response is fear. Fear is the emotion, not the response, and the behavioural response is the result of the emotion. He then went on to talk about how basic emotions can be considered "ancestral memories" in that they are tools an animal is born with to help them learn and survive. Parts of the brain that are associated with instinctual emotional actions also mediate punishment and reward systems, and can therefore be punishments or rewards in learning.

I got Panksepp's textbook on affective neuroscience for Christmas. It rocks! :laugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patricia Simonet has researched dogs laughing and the effect of a recorded laugh on shelter dogs. http://www.petalk.org/DogLaughSpect.html http://www.petalk.org/LaughingDog.pdf

That is quite cool. :laugh: I played it to my dogs. Erik came rushing over to see what the deal was, but Kivi laughed back at me! At least I think it was a laugh. Maybe it was a breathy whiney almost-bark thing. You always have the coolest links. :bolt: You must spend more time researching the literature than I do!

For those unable to watch the video, Panksepp made the point that it wasn't enough or even accurate to say an animal's response is fear. Fear is the emotion, not the response, and the behavioural response is the result of the emotion. He then went on to talk about how basic emotions can be considered "ancestral memories" in that they are tools an animal is born with to help them learn and survive. Parts of the brain that are associated with instinctual emotional actions also mediate punishment and reward systems, and can therefore be punishments or rewards in learning.

I got Panksepp's textbook on affective neuroscience for Christmas. It rocks! :laugh:

It is cool isn't it (laughing dogs)!! I spend far too much time on the computer although I read about it originally in Patricia McConnell's book For the Love of a Dog, there is a very brief mention. I bought Panksepp's book as a Christmas pressie for myself but have only dipped into it. Ill need a book to take notes with i think. I'm reading three books at the moment all non-fiction and my brain is rebelling! Yet to watch all the video.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Uh oh, not Lee Charles Kelley! We have a somewhat lively discussion with him about that article on another forum. Eventually Kevin Behan, the 'founder' of the training theory LCK uses came along and some people are trying to understand how what he says is particularly different to what Panksepp says better. That discussion is where the link to this video came up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure what the conclusions were, Leema! I don't find either very easy to understand. It's not very fair of me to air my opinions on it all without them here to defend themselves. Suffice to say LCK aggravates a lot of people and many don't see much in his writing of use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...