What Kindness Is, and Who Shows It: teacher key

Kindness, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. What kindness, altruism and empathy mean, then studies of toddlers, apes, rats, bats, elephants and dogs, and what the happiness studies found.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What is altruism?
   • Eating alone
   • Concern for others that does not depend on personal benefit (answer)
   • Counting money
2. What did virtually all the children in the 2006 toddler study do?
   • Ran away
   • Asked for help
   • Helped at least once (answer)
3. What do studies report about rodents and empathy?
   • They show it for cagemates in pain but not strangers (answer)
   • They show it for every rodent
   • They show none at all
4. Why was social contact not the only reason rats freed cagemates?
   • They were paid
   • They freed them even when the contact was prevented (answer)
   • They were trained
5. Who shares meat after a chimpanzee hunt?
   • Only the leader
   • Nobody
   • Hunting party members and bystanders (answer)
6. Does empathy always mean a person will want to help?
   • No (answer)
   • Yes, always
   • Only at night

Words

• kindness: caring acts
• altruism: selfless concern
• contagion: spreading
• bonobos: apes
• empathy: sharing feelings