Académique Documents
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Culture Documents
Children
Ashley Raucci
Department of Kinesiology
Spring 2018
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Introduction
Empathy is a basic human capacity that is important in daily social life (Reiffe,
reacting adaptively to another’s needs. Decety & Jackson (2004) suggest that empathy is
students are taught and encouraged to see others through an empathic lens. The
environment at this center is truly inclusive. The students range in age from 3-12 years
old and have a wide variety of abilities; there are somestudents with Down syndrome,
Autism Spectrum Disorder, speech and language delays, attention deficit disorders, etc.
cooperatively share ideas and solve problems in the same environment. CSLC has built
the framework of their approach around developing the empathy, among many other
traits and values, based on explicit teaching, guidance, and opportunities for practice.
develop empathy is successful. CSLC intends to document and track empathy of its
The purpose of this study is to measure empathy in the students at CSLC and to
children who are placed in an inclusive learning environment where empathy is a focus of
the curriculum are more empathetic than peers in an inclusive learning environment
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Review of Literature
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Deficits in
empathy can play a critical role in the development of externalizing behavior and other
empathy and its definitions are discussed, specifically regarding empathy in nurses
toward their patients. Empathy must involve understanding the current feelings of another
person, not their feelings of yesterday (Kalisch 1973). An interesting point Kalisch made
was that empathic understanding is not a passive process and will not happen without
effort. Thus, it must be learned, practiced, and reinforced for it to become a positive and
effective trait in another human being. Empathy is a difficult and complex goal to
achieve. The author discusses how individuals trying to convey or show empathy usually
try to give advice on an issue at hand. While individuals may think giving advice is a
helpful and an empathic gesture, it more represents personal gain because it feels good to
help people (Kalisch, 1973). Instead of solving problems for other people and providing
solutions, a truly empathic person feels the pain another individual is going through.
Inclusive Environments
Inclusion is the term used for learning environments that fit the needs of all
and/or ability levels. General education classrooms contain typically developing students
with no recognized disability that inhibits learning or learning ability. These non-
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inclusive classrooms are also being referred to as segregated classrooms. Some children
be mainstreamed into general education classes on a part time basis in the hopes that they
can successfully transition to general education classes full time later in their primary or
secondary education. Inclusive classrooms, like CSLC, are environments where students
Children may find difficulty learning at school for a plethora of reasons, but they need the
same motivators for learning which are interest, self-respect, confidence, freedom from
worry, and a warm and patient teacher. In short, they need inclusion to a welcoming
learning environment that builds social connection and community (Thomas & Loxely,
2007),
recognition and regulation, were delayed in children who are deaf and hard of hearing
(DHH) (Bachara, Raphael, & Phelan, 1980; Ketelaar, Reiffe, Weifferink, & Frijns, 2012).
In 2015, a study was conducted to determine the difference in levels of self-reported and
observed empathy between children who are DHH and children with normal hearing. It
was found that cognitive empathy was lower in children who were DHH, regardless of
their level of hearing amplification. However, the results also showed that children who
are DHH in mainstream schools had higher levels of empathy than children who are
DHH attending special schools. The issue with low empathy levels in children who are
DHH is deeper than them just not caring for other individuals. Affective empathy (feeling
what the other person feels) is thought to be neurologically hard-wired and is present in
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other’s emotions) depends on the extent to which children can participate in a social
environment. Children who are DHH are compromised in their ability to fully access the
Methods
Participants
The participants in this study were from 2 different settings. The first group will
be students ages 3-12 who attend Children’s Synergistic Learning Center (CSLC). Of the
23 students at CSLC, 12 are girls and 11 are boys. At least 50% of students at CSLC have
environment (OIE) in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Thirteen students will be assessed,
ages 11-15. The OIE consists of 8 females and 5 males. Two students in this environment
have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and are receiving educational support resource
Instrument
Ketelaar, and Wiefferink, (2010) examines empathy in infancy through adolescence using
parent, teacher, and self-reports. A study conducted by Carolien Reiffe (2010) focused on
the validation of the EmQue in infancy and early childhood. In this study validity was
based on parent reports of children with a mean age of 30 months. The breakdown of
these questions has been organized into 4 distinguished levels of empathy (Hoffman,
1987). These levels are “global empathy”, ‘attention to others’ feelings’, ‘prosocial
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Global empathy manifests itself within the first year of life. This level is
characterized by infants attending to the emotions of others. For example, the crying of a
baby might trigger a response in other babies (Reiffe, 2010). This is also labeled as
Attention to others’ feelings presumably starts at the age of one. Hoffman (1987)
described this as an infant feeling distress but knowing that it’s someone else who is in
danger or pain. At this level, infants develop the capacity to attend to others’ emotions
Prosocial actions are part of the third level of empathy where children become
more responsive to others’ emotional displays and start to react in a prosocial manner. A
1992 study by Zahn-Waxler and colleagues showed that children develop this capacity to
intervene on behalf of others during their second year of life. This can take a variety of
Empathy for another’s life condition, level four of Hoffman’s theory, develops
during late childhood and refers to empathic responses not only confined to the situation,
but also with another’s general level of distress or deprivation. This level can motivate
others to feel empathy for people who live in more unfavorable circumstances and
An advantage of the EmQue is that all the questions across each parent, teacher,
The EmQue was selected as the most appropriate assessment due to its non-
limiting age versatility in that it has been validated to assess children from 3 to 16 years
of age. The questionnaire included 3 questions on demographic data (age, sex, school) in
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addition to the 20 items of the questionnaire. The EmQue Teacher report (Attachment 1)
has 20 items. Questions were answered based on the likelihood that the statement related
Procedures
Teachers at CSLC completed the EmQue for their students via Google Forms.
Data were also collected from parents for each one of their children who attend CSLC.
That data, however, was not used in the analysis of this project. CSLC wishes to collect
parent reports for more reliable data for their future use and to inform parents on what
OIE teachers in the Phoenix metropolitan area were asked to complete the EmQue
Data Analysis
Data were analyzed based on demographic data. CSLC’s levels of empathy was
compared to the levels of empathy in OIE children. The levels will also be analyzed
based on location.
All forms submitted electronically were automatically put into a data sheet for
further analysis on empathy levels based on school, age, and gender. Responses were
made.
The EmQue responses were translated quantitatively. All ‘No’ responses were
scored a 0, all ‘Sometimes’ responses were score a 1, and all ‘Often’ responses were
scored with a 2.
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Total score averages were found for each respective environment. Average scores
Hypothesis
empathy is a meaningful part of the curriculum versus children in OIE where empathy is
Results
Each item of the EmQue has a total possible score of 2. Of the 20 items, there are
CSLC scored on average a 16.8. Their lowest total score was an 11 and their
highest total score was a 23. Of the levels of empathy that were assessed, they scored an
average 1.5 on emotion contagion, an 8.8 on attention to others’ feelings, and a 6.5 on
prosocial actions.
The OIE we assessed scored an average 14.9. Their lowest total score was a 5 and
their highest total score was a 28. Of the levels of empathy that were assessed, they
scored an average 1.6 on emotion contagion, a 7.4 on attention to others feelings, and a
As seen on Table 1, CLSC scored higher on other overall score, prosocial actions,
and attention to others feelings. These findings confirm the hypothesis that schools who
implement empathy concepts in their curriculum will produce more empathic children.
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Discussion
Though the scores of the data collected were not significantly different, , there are
The students at CSLC are between the ages of 3 and 11, while the students in the
OIE were between the ages of 11 and 15. Children who are significantly younger have
higher levels of empathy due to the explicit teaching of empathy in the educational
attention to others’ feelings (Table 1). This means students are able to recognize and
understand the emotions of another person in their proximity. Individuals who tend to
lack development in this level typically don’t understand why people are feeling the way
they do. For example, when I fall down and bump my knee, I may cry in pain. An
individual who lacks development in attention to others’ feelings may see me sitting on
the ground, holding my knee, and not understand why I am upset or hurt.
according to the literature on inclusive learning environments. Thomas & Loxely (2007)
stated that students need inclusion to a welcoming learning community that builds social
connection and community. While all students assessed are in an inclusion environment,
classrooms like CSLC. It could be that students with and without disabilities have a
harder time in inclusion environments because of the lack of social connection and
community.
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Students as CSLC, while they may be younger, are much more interactive with
each other academically by sharing ideas, presenting and developing projects, and
participating in interactive class discussions. Students at CSLC also may learn to find
connections with other students, even ones who are different, based on core values of the
school’s curriculum.
individual.
Some limitations of this study included low teacher availability to fill out forms.
Schools, teachers, and parents will need a lot of time to prepare for a study like this since
special permission was requested for students to fill out any EmQue self-reports. Due to
the lack of permission, students were not able to fill out self-reports. Teachers at CSLC
had no issues making time to fill out forms, however, OIE teachers in public schools
For next time, I would plan for a whole semester to allow for data collection,
instead of 1 month.
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Total Emotion Attention to Prosocial
Table 1 Average Contagion Others’ Actions
Feelings
CSLC 16.8 1.5 8.8 6.5
Other Inclusion Environment 14.9 1.6 7.4 6.0
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Score
0
Emotion Contagion Attention to Others Feelings Prosocial Actions
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References
Batson C.D., Fultz J, & Schoenrade P.A. (1987). Distress and empathy: Two qualitatively
distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences. Journal of
Personality. 55(1), 19-39.
Elliott, R., Bohart, A. C., Watson, J. C., & Greenberg, L. S. (2011). Empathy.
Psychotherapy, 48(1), 43-49. doi:10.1037/a0022187
Overgaauw, S., Rieffe, C., Broekhof, E., Crone, E. A., & Güroğlu, B. (2017). Assessing
Empathy across Childhood and Adolescence: Validation of the Empathy
Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA). Frontiers in
Psychology, 8, 870. http://doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00870
M.L. Hoffman (1987). The contribution of empathy to justice and moral judgment.
In Eisenberg, N., Strayer, J. (1987) Empathy and its Development, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge. 47-80.
Thomas, G., & Loxley, A. (2007). Deconstructing Special Education and Constructing
Inclusion. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.
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ATTACHMENT 1 - EmQue Teacher Report:
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