Looking for Personality in Animals, of All People

NY Times ^ | March 1, 2005 | CARL ZIMMER

[neverdem]

Deborah Lykins for The New York Times
Dr. Samuel Gosling led a study into animal personality involving hyenas.

[neverdem]

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[squarebarb]

Openess. How open minded and interested in culture someone is. Hey, like, it's ear envy.

[neverdem]

evolution ping

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I have always wanted to conduct a study of personality influences on Alligator behavior, all I need is about $250,000. I have the Gators, but they won't work for nothing!

[PatrickHenry]

From the article:
They are studying a European relative of chickadees called the great tit (Parus major).

Thanks for the ping.

[fat city]

Give the Dutch enough grant money and legalized pot and this is what you get.

[Bogtrotter52]

Did my Big Mac origin have a happy life? Who cares

[Khashayar]

BUMP

[Junior]

Ping.

[Junior]

So, what's wrong with the study they're doing? There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy. And these guys are exploring one of those things.

[PatrickHenry]

Think it's for the list?

[Junior]

It's attracting the Luddites. I'd say yes.

[PatrickHenry]

EvolutionPing

A pro-evolution science list with over 240 names. See list's description at my homepage. FReepmail to be added/dropped.

[Carry_Okie]

The scientists, based at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, are investigating personalities of wild birds.

Snip

"It's been looked at with suspicion and contempt," said Dr. Samuel Gosling, a psychologist at the University of Texas.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Mayhap Dr. Gosling would have preferred a study of geese?

[fat city]

Hey, my dog made me write that. I gotta hide his stash.

[AntiGuv]

I find it a bit interesting that there seems to be a flurry of media reports on animal personality in recent weeks (maybe I'm just encountering a disproportionate share). I always figured it was more or less a given that at least 'higher order' animals had personality types and emotional states. To be sure, I haven't the slightest objection to such research - to the contrary I think it's quite important - but I wonder if the slightly raised media profile may be a corrolary of the animal rights movement.

Speaking of which, I think the animal rights movement has admirable principles in the abstract, but frequently seems inane in practice. I think part of the problem is that personality and emotion is so loaded with connotation to our perception that it can be easy to 'anthropomorphize' other creatures. The rudimentary forms exhibited by most (primates and cetaceans being notable exceptions) are in my view such a difference in degree as to be different in kind. Ultimately, it's a man eat cow world out there!

PS. Are the "pink" flamingos the most flamboyant?

[visualops]

lol I was thinking the same thing

[Junior]

I dunno. My dogs and cats definitely evince individual, and easily discernable (to a human being) personality traits. Oddly enough, I've seen personalities types (albeit, very basic) in my pet skink, my two cockatiels, and the frogs and fish inhabiting the aquarium in my kitchen; traits like curiosity, playfulness, and downright orneryness. I see it as a difference in degree rather than kind.

BTW, I've considered using "The Lazy Flamingo" as the name of the bar I'm opening when I retire.

[visualops]

From the "GozLab" itself:

ANIMAL PERSONALITY

"...a dog's got personality and personality goes a long way" (Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction)

The ultimate goal of this program of research is to: (a) develop animal models to inform research in personality, social, and health psychology, (b) use perceptions of animal personality to understand general processes in personality perception, (c) apply our understanding of personality to promote animal welfare.

Purposeful anthropomorphizing(sp?) to promote empathy.