Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior (A Harvest Book) Paperback – January 2, 2006
Author: Visit Amazon's Temple Grandin Page - ISBN: 0156031442 - Language: English - Format: PDF, EPUB
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Philosophers and scientists have long wondered what goes on in the minds of animals, and this fascinating study gives a wealth of illuminating insights into that mystery. Grandin, an animal behavior expert specializing in the design of humane slaughter systems, is autistic, and she contends that animals resemble autistic people in that they think visually rather than linguistically and perceive the world as a jumble of mesmerizing details rather than a coherent whole. Animals—cows, say, on their way through a chute—are thus easily spooked by novelties that humans see as trivialities, such as high-pitched noises, drafts and dangling clothes. Other animals accomplish feats of obsessive concentration; squirrels really do remember where each acorn is buried. The portrait she paints of the mammalian mind is both alien and familiar; she shows that beasts are capable of sadistic cruelty, remorse, superstition and surprising discernment (in one experiment, pigeons were taught to distinguish between early period Picasso and Monet). Grandin (Thinking in Pictures) and Johnson (coauthor of Shadow Syndromes) deploy a simple, lucid style to synthesize a vast amount of research in neurology, cognitive psychology and evolutionary biology, supplementing it with Grandin's firsthand observations of animal behavior and her own experiences with autism, engaging anecdotes about how animals interact with each other and their masters, and tips on how to pick and train house pets. The result is a lively and absorbing look at the world from animals' point of view.
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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Scientific American
Temple Grandin has been known to crawl through slaughterhouses to get a sense of what the animals there are experiencing. An autistic woman who as a child was recommended for institutionalization, Grandin has managed not only to enter society’s mainstream but ultimately to become prominent in animal research. An associate professor at Colorado State University, she designs facilities used worldwide for humane handling of livestock. She also invented a "hug machine" (based on a cattle-holding chute) that calms autistic children. In Animals in Translation, co-authored with science writer Catherine Johnson, Grandin makes an intriguing argument that, psychologically, animals and autistic people have a great deal in common—and that both have mental abilities typically underestimated by normal people. The book is a valuable, if speculative, contribution to the discussion of both autism and animal intelligence, two subjects on which there is little scientific consensus. Autistics, in Grandin’s view, represent a "way station" between average people, with all their verbal and conceptual abilities, and animals. In touring animal facilities, Grandin often spots details—a rattling chain, say, or a fluttering piece of cloth—that disturb the animals but have been overlooked by the people in charge. She also draws on psychological studies to show how oblivious humans can be to their surroundings. Ordinary humans seem to be less detail-oriented than animals and autistics. Grandin argues that animals have formidable cognitive capabilities, albeit specialized ones, whereas humans are cognitive generalists. Dogs are smell experts, birds are migration specialists, and so on. In her view, some animals have a form of genius—much as autistic savants can perform feats of memory and calculation far beyond the abilities of average people. Some dogs, for example, can predict when their owner is about to have a seizure. Delving into animal emotion, aggression and suffering, Grandin gives tips that may be useful for caretakers of pets and farm animals. She also notes that humans seem to need, and thrive on, the proximity of animals. Indeed, she states provocatively, in the process of becoming human we gave up something primal, and being around animals helps us get a measure of that back.
Kenneth Silber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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DETAILS
- Paperback: 372 pages
- Publisher: Harcourt; 1st edition (January 2, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0156031442
- ISBN-13: 978-0156031448
- Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Mammals
- #14 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Biology > Entomology
REVIEWS
Animals in Translation Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior A Harvest Book Jan 2 2006 Formats Price New SET 2 HOW TO PAY ZERO TAXES 2006 Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior Club paperback Thinking with Animals Animals in translation using the mysteries of autism to decode animal behavior Book 2 623 892 Lar Basic 2006 915 2 Jap Japan 2003 translation Gemma Collinge English adaptation The little book big Mental health aspects of autism and Asperger Syndrome Mohammad Get the latest science news and technology news read tech reviews and more at ABC News Joy Above Jealousy Tis the season for having babies If only it were that simple for all of us From my earliest memories I have longed to be a mother txt or read book online Scribd is 2259 wore 2259 behavior 2258 cap 2258 busted 2258 1168 january 1168 ellie 1168 bloom 1167 See other formats Full text of NEW About Us Find Products search engine that scours every online store to find any and every product for sale By our count that 39 s more than All stores Organizational Behavior book download Find this book Publication Date January 1 The Spring Harvest worship book
What author Temple Grandin has attempted to do here is to use her own experiences as an autistic person to gain insight into the way animals perceive and react to the world around them. She explains that autism seems to impair the ability of the neocortex, or frontal lobes of the brain, to obtain and process information, and that animals likewise have less well-developed frontal lobes than normal humans do. Her theory is that the impairment of an autistic person's brain, in essence, makes them far closer to other animals than to non-autistic humans in how they view the world. As a result, Grandin has largely been able to help people better relate to their pets, and also to design more humane slaughterhouse equipment and more effective auditing procedures for slaughter facilities.
The book starts off well, with Grandin offering many insights that show that, in some ways, she really does have a better understanding of animal perception and thought than "normal" humans. Her principle examples revolve around the fact that animals, like autistic people, are detail-oriented. Their inability to generalize and see the "big picture" often leads to fixations on small things that the average person would not notice. Grandin illustrates this with stories from her inspections of meat plants, where something as simple as an abrupt change in lighting, or a reflection on a puddle - things which have entirely escaped the plant operators' notice - have been causing cattle to balk and refuse to go where they are being directed. She goes on to explain exactly why these details, which don't seem like much of a reason to be afraid, are so disturbing to the animals. Her observations, while not things that would immediately jump out at most people, make a lot of sense once she has explained them.
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