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Toward an Evolutionary Thanatology

Research Project

Project/Area Number 18K18693
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Review Section Medium-sized Section 10:Psychology and related fields
Research InstitutionKyoto University

Principal Investigator

Anderson James  京都大学, 文学研究科, 名誉教授 (80737453)

Project Period (FY) 2018-06-29 – 2024-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥6,240,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,440,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
Keywordsdeath / dying / cognition / emotions / nonhuman primates / children / attitudes / euthanasia / animals / awareness / thanatology / understanding / Thanatology / Primates / Children / Psychology / Comparative cognition
Outline of Final Research Achievements

Main research achievements are: 1. First experimental study on responses to a "death odor" (putrescine) in nonhuman primates. We have shown that chimpanzees resemble humans in finding this odor aversive. 2. First exploration of spontaneous discrimination between pictures of dead and live animals in nonhuman primates (capuchins). We found no evidence of discrimination, and will follow up with a learning task. 3. First study of children's descriptions of animated films showing a "fatal" accident involving a living being (chimpanzee) or a moving, non-living object (robot). Verbal responses are combined with eye-movement and physiological measures. 4. First quantitative study of the accuracy of parents' estimations of their children's understanding of death and children's actual estimations. This large online study also clarifies the influence of experiential factors such as owning a pet. 5. First formal comparison of attitudes towards euthanasia between Japanese and Western (UK) people.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

This research has led to new findings in the field of comparative developmental thanatology, stimulating other research teams to conduct related research and develop new approaches in humans and other species of animals. The work has attracted considerable international media attention.

Report

(7 results)
  • 2023 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • 2020 Research-status Report
  • 2019 Research-status Report
  • 2018 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (12 results)

All 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019

All Journal Article (5 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 5 results,  Peer Reviewed: 5 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (5 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Invited: 2 results) Book (2 results)

  • [Journal Article] Leopard predation on wild Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys2023

    • Author(s)
      Bin Yang, James R. Anderson et al.
    • Journal Title

      Primates

      Volume: 64 Pages: 589-594

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Maternal caretaking behaviour towards a dead juvenile in a wild, multi-level primate society.2022

    • Author(s)
      Yang, B; Anderson, JR; Mao, M; Wang, K; Li, B
    • Journal Title

      Scientific Reports

      Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Pages: 4780-4780

    • DOI

      10.1038/s41598-022-08660-9

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report 2021 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Putrescine-- a chemical cue of death-- is aversive to chimpanzees2021

    • Author(s)
      Anderson, JR; Yeow, H; Hirata, S
    • Journal Title

      Behavioural Processes

      Volume: 193 Pages: 104538-104538

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104538

    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Responses to death and dying: Primates and other mammals2020

    • Author(s)
      Anderson, JR
    • Journal Title

      PRIMATES

      Volume: 61 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-7

    • DOI

      10.1007/s10329-019-00786-1

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report 2019 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Primate thanatology and hominoid mortuary archeology2020

    • Author(s)
      Pettitt, P; Anderson JR
    • Journal Title

      PRIMATES

      Volume: 61 Issue: 1 Pages: 9-19

    • DOI

      10.1007/s10329-019-00769-2

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report 2019 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Why there is no suicide in nonhuman primates2023

    • Author(s)
      James R. Anderson
    • Organizer
      Scottish Primate Research Group, Burn Meeting
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Mirrors, yawns, and death: Connections?2021

    • Author(s)
      Anderson, JR
    • Organizer
      15th International Symposium on Primatology and Wildlife Science
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report 2020 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Self-injurious behaviour and suicide: humans vs. aped, and the imaginary vs. the real self.2020

    • Author(s)
      James R. Anderson
    • Organizer
      Skills of Feeling with the World- Fifth Workshop
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Captive primates and stress: self-aggression, self-injurious behaviour, but no suicide: Why?2019

    • Author(s)
      James R. Anderson
    • Organizer
      14th International Conference on Environmental Enrichment
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] Why is there no humans-like suicide in animals?2019

    • Author(s)
      James R. Anderson
    • Organizer
      Third Kyoto Workshop on Evolutionary Thanatology: Death in Non-humans, and Human Perspectives
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Book] The SAGE Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology2020

    • Author(s)
      Anderson, JR
    • Total Pages
      504
    • Publisher
      Evolutionary psychology and thanatology: Responses to death.
    • ISBN
      9781526489142
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
  • [Book] Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 2nd Edition2019

    • Author(s)
      James R. Anderson
    • Total Pages
      6
    • Publisher
      Academic Press
    • ISBN
      9780128132517
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report

URL: 

Published: 2018-07-25   Modified: 2025-01-30  

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