Development of the concepts of living and animal in the child

Rusca, Graziella; Tonucci, Francesco

doi:10.1007/bf03172891

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…First, our results show that girls and boys behaved differently with the guinea pig, thus supporting previous reports (for a review: Filiatre et al 1988;Rusca and Tonucci 1992;Wells and Hepper 1999;Herzog 2007). Overall, girls hesitated more (i.e., displayed self-centered gestures) than boys, as previously observed in other unfamiliar situations (Stern and Bender 1974).…”

Section: Influence Of Different Factorssupporting

confidence: 91%

The Strange Animal Situation Test

et al. 2011

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International audienceMany tools assess the reactions of humans encountering familiar or unfamiliar partners or environments. Companion animals belong to our everyday environment and influence our lives. Whereas many standardized tools test companion animals' reactions to humans, few evaluate humans' reactions to companion animals. We present here a test with a guinea pig that can be applied to a wide range of people in the home environment. This standardized test and simple coding system enabled us to characterize individual behavioral profiles of children and compare them in relation to different factors (e.g., gender, age, pet ownership). We observed 59 children (32 girls, 27 boys), aged between 6 and 12 years old. Our results show that most children first looked at the guinea pig (72%), smiled when they saw it (49%), and then went directly towards it without looking at their parent (79%). Many children touched the animal without hesitation (86%). Moreover, this test reveals more than the mere interest of children in guinea pigs. Indeed, a cluster analysis differentiated four behavioral profiles that reflected aspects of the children's experience, gender, and lifestyles. When encountering the unfamiliar guinea pig, children could be "confident" (go straight to the animal and touch it; 64%), "anxious" (look at parent; 12%), "indirect" (hesitate and touch; 14%), or "careful" (emit vocal and/or verbal behaviors; 10%). The potential future application of this research is to compare behavioral profiles quantitatively over the long term, taking into account the development and experiences of people with typical development and those with atypical development (e.g., autistic disorders)

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Section: Influence Of Different Factorssupporting

confidence: 91%

The Strange Animal Situation Test

et al. 2011

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“…urban) areas. British children like tigers (Panthera tigris) and lions (Panthera leo), and similar preferences apply to Italian urban children (Rusca and Tonucci 1992). But children in Tanzania express fear of these carnivores and consider them a nuisance (Entwistle and Stephenson 2000).…”

Section: Socio-demographic Variables and Species Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Animal Preferences and Acceptability of Wildlife Management Actions around Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

et al. 2006

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Wildlife management policies are often based on expert perceptions of the ecological importance of certain species and poorly informed perceptions of how public attitudes toward management are formed. Little is known about why preferences vary greatly and how this affects support for management actions. This paper explores preferences for a range of wildlife species among a sample of the rural population adjacent to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. We also examine the degree of acceptance for alternative management interventions when potentially dangerous animals pose different levels of problems to human beings, and the extent to which these attitudes are related to species preferences. Gender has a significant effect on species preferences. Men like most species better than women. Age has no significant effect, but level of education affects preference level for some species. Species preferences have a positive effect on support for management intervention when dangerous animals cause small or moderate problems to humans, i.e. there is a higher degree of acceptance of problems caused by animals that are well liked. In situations where human life is threatened, species preferences have no effect on preferred management actions. Appreciation of animals is a combination of functional, consumptive and cultural dimensions, and there is no simple link between species preferences and attitudes toward management actions. The local context and concrete experience with wildlife encounters is more important for shaping normative beliefs like attitudes towards management actions than global wildlife attitudes.

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“…Whether viewing predator-prey interactions influenced these choices must be considered in the context of research by Cantor and Nathanson (1996) indicating that viewing animal violence on television has little influence on children's news-induced fears. In a related finding, survey research by Rusca and Tonucci (1992) indicated that urban British and Italian children have positive preferences for large carnivores, such as lions and tigers, possibly due to their perceived "athleticism and ferocity" (also see Kaltenborn, Bjerke, Nyahongo, & Williams, 2006). However, children living in rural areas are fearful of dangerous animals they see occasionally, such as wolves (Canis lupis) in Norway and lions in Tanzania (cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Assessment by British Children and Adults

Penkunas¹,

Coss²,

Shultz³

2014

IJPS

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We present data illustrating how preschool-aged British children ranked the danger of different situations and adults rated various external causes of mortality. Ranks were calculated from 34 children's ratings of dangers presented by eight scenarios using a three-dimensional diorama. Lion and hippopotamus figurines were presented to characterize historical threats with intentional agency. Children ranked the lion followed by the hippopotamus as presenting the greatest danger. When these ranks were pooled to reflect a general category of animal attacks, the children's ranks failed to reflect the national statistics on childhood deaths. Adult ratings for the prevalence of 20 external causes of mortality in the general public were positively correlated with the actual frequency of mortality due to these causes. Nevertheless, adults were seen to underestimate their personal susceptibility to the same dangers. Children and adults differ in risk assessment based initially on early childhood predispositions, with experience altering risk assessment to match the local environment.

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Development of the concepts of living and animal in the child

Cited by 12 publications

References 16 publications

The Strange Animal Situation Test

The Strange Animal Situation Test

Animal Preferences and Acceptability of Wildlife Management Actions around Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Risk Assessment by British Children and Adults

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