This study analyzes cognitive and emotional empathy in students who started their training at the Education Science Faculty of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia. The sample was formed by 317 students enrolled in the study programs of Preschool, Plastic Arts, Natural Sciences, Physical Education, Philosophy, Computer Science,…

Empathy is an essential building block for successful interpersonal relationships. Atypical empathic development is implicated in a range of developmental psychopathologies. However, assessment of empathy in children is constrained by a lack of suitable measurement instruments. This article outlines the development of the Kids' Empathic…

Burleson and Goldsmith's (1998) comforting model suggests an appraisal-based mechanism through which comforting messages can bring about a positive change in emotional states. This study is a first empirical test of three causal linkages implied by the appraisal-based comforting model. Participants (N=258) talked about an upsetting event with a…

Results of a study comparing 10-year-old girls' emotional experience (via verbal report) and emotional state (via nonverbal facial expressions) showed that there are modest associations between these factors and also between verbal and facial empathy scores. (ETB)

Investigated the relationship between sensitivity to emotions and behavioral empathy and explored the validity of the revised Kagan Affective Sensitivity Scale (KASS) in a study of 30 social work students. Results confirmed that sensitivity to emotions is involved in accurate behavioral empathy. (JAC)

Explored relationships between three dimensions of temperament (surgency, negative affectivity, and control) and several patterns of behavior for 80 children aged 6 and 7 years. Found that surgency correlated positively with aggression and negatively with guilt and shame. Negative affectivity correlated positively with aggression, guilt and shame,…

Evaluated the effectiveness of Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) feedback in developing empathy in novice counselors. Results suggest training with biofeedback was associated with more affective responding by the counselor but did not facilitate counselor communication of understanding of clients' concerns, nor was a pervasive increase in perceptual…

Progress on a research project at the University of New South Wales that has attempted to develop a test of the interpersonal communication skills of medical students is summarized. The test, which used films of doctor-patient interactions, was designed to measure the ability to respond appropriately to the emotional content of the interactions.…

This investigation developed and validated a simulation device to measure a teacher's ability to identify verbal and nonverbal emotions expressed by a student. The instrument, Teacher Affective Sensitivity Scale (TASS), consisted of videotaped excerpts of teacher-learner interactions from actual and simulated episodes. Each simulation excerpt was…

Headsmart Adventures is an interpersonal skills curriculum designed for nine to eleven-year old children which was the subject of a quasi-experimental study in seven Philadelphia area schools. The evaluation was based on results of a structured interview and two affective tests specially designed to measure the goals of the program. The purpose of…