你欢笑，你最好的朋友很可能也会和你一起笑。她的脸也会即刻模仿你欢喜的表情。科学家们把这种情绪传染(它也发生在人们打哈欠的时候)看做是一种基本的共情形式——共情(empathy)是一种体验到别人的感受的能力。但人类不是唯一自动快速相互模仿动作表情的动物，猩猩、黑猩猩和狒狒也这样做。研究人员今天在《英国皇家学会开放科学》杂志网络版上报告说，狗也是这样。科学家们用视频记录下了49只3个月到半岁大的狗(26只雌性和23只雄性)在意大利巴勒莫的一个狗公园玩耍的过程。他们对视频做了评估，寻找迅速模仿的证据，也就是那些在1秒之内就自动匹配自己玩伴的姿势(比如鞠躬)或面部表情的狗儿。例如，在上面的视频里，一只狗给其它狗儿们做出了一个研究人员称之为“放松地张嘴”的表情——这是狗儿们发出的“让我们玩耍”的信号。第二只狗则自动用嘴做出了同样的表情。科学家报告说，这些狗里有77%迅速模仿了鞠躬的动作和模仿狗同伴的表情。同人类和其它灵长类动物一样，狗最经常有这种与熟知并经常玩耍的同类分享情感的经历。互相经历过至少一次快速模仿的时刻的狗们也会在一起玩得更久，科学家说，这是说明狗可能善于共情的进一步的证据。
原文链接：Dogs show empathy during play
原文摘要：Laugh and your best friend will probably join in. Her face will also instantly mimic your mirthful expression. Scientists call this emotional contagion (it also happens when someone yawns), and regard it as a basic form of empathy—the ability to experience what someone else is feeling. But humans aren’t the only animals who automatically and rapidly mimic each other’s expressions. Orangutans, chimpanzees, and geladas do as well. Now, researchers report online today in the Royal Society Open Science that dogs do, too. The scientists’ video recorded the play sessions of 49 dogs (26 female and 23 male), ranging in age from 3 months to 6 years, at a dog park in Palermo, Italy. They evaluated the videos for evidence of rapid mimicry—that is, dogs who in less than 1 second matched their playmate’s play postures (such as a bow) or facial expressions. In the video above, for example, one dog gives the other what the researchers call a “relaxed open mouth” expression—a dog’s signal for “let’s play.” And the second dog automatically makes the same expression with his mouth.Seventy-seven percent of the dogs rapidly mimicked the play bows and play faces of their dog pals, the scientists report. And like humans and other primates, the dogs most often experienced this emotional sharing with canines they knew well and played with on a regular basis. Dogs that shared at least one moment of rapid mimicry also played together longer—further evidence, the scientists say, that dogs are likely empathetic.
