These chapter outlines are intended to help you orient yourself as you read Animals in Translation. As Grandin’s argument can, at times, seem to “get lost” in the anecdotal details of her digressions, you might find it helpful to refer to these outlines while you read in order to get a sense of where a particular anecdote or explanation is going. With this “roadmap” of sorts, it is my hope that you will be able to relax a bit as you read, and begin to enjoy Grandin’s anecdotes and understand the argument they support.
NOTE: These outlines are IN NO WAY a substitute for your actual reading of the text. You will not be able to pass the reading quizzes, complete the homework assignments, or successfully participate in the group if you do not do the reading.
Chapter 1: “My Story”
pg. 1 – 6 Grandin introduces herself by way of her experiences with animals, demonstrating the strong bond she has come to share with them through her autism.
pg. 6 – 8 Grandin introduces her claim that “autistic people can think the way animals think.”
pg. 9 – 16 Grandin explains behaviorism and ethology. She notes the strengths of each, but asserts that both fail to fully understand animals because both look at animals from outside, whereas Grandin has learned to view them from inside.
pg. 16 – 23 Grandin describes visual thinking, which is how animals and autistic people think. She shows how her visual thinking has helped her understand animals and solve problems in slaughterhouses.
pg. 24 – 26 Grandin claims that non-autistic people, unlike animals and autistic people, don’t think visually, and don’t “see” everything that is in front of them. This is because non-autistic people have “inattentional blindness” – they can only see the things that they are looking for.
pg. 26 Grandin states the thesis of her book: to give her readers a new perspective on animals and autism.
Chapter 2: “How Animals Perceive the World”
pg. 27 – 29 Grandin argues that non-autistic people are too abstract and too caught up in ideology to really help or understand animals.
pg. 30 – 31 Grandin introduces an important claim. Whereas “normal human beings are abstractified in their sensory perceptions (and) thoughts,” animals and autistic people are concrete – they see the details, not the “general concept” that those details comprise.
pg. 31 – 39 Grandin explains that animals, like autistic people, are highly sensitive to details. She lists several details (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) that can distract animals in slaughterhouses.
pg. 39 – 44 Grandin explains three major differences between normal human vision and animal vision. The differences are in visual acuity, panoramic vision, and color vision.
pg. 44 – 48 Grandin points out that both humans and animals have a natural curiosity toward and aversion to novel (new) things and experiences.
pg. 49 – 50 Grandin describes sound distractors.
pg. 50 – 52 Grandin revisits the concept of inattentional blindness, and explains that animals and autistic people see more detail than non-autistic people either because their frontal lobes are smaller (animals) or because their frontal lobes are damaged (autistic people).
pg. 52 – 54 Grandin explains “three-brain theory.”
pg. 55 – 57 Grandin argues that, because autism results from a problem of “output” to the frontal lobe (the “human brain”), autistic people rely more on their “dog brains” and thus share more perceptual ability in common with animals than non-autistic people do.
pg. 62 – 67 Grandin discusses humans’ and animals’ perception of detail. Both humans and animals are able to perceive the same things, but humans “see” (or process) only the “general schema” – the big picture that the details comprise – while animals (and autistic people) see the details.
Chapter Three: “Animal Feelings”
pg. 69 – 72 Grandin discusses the dangers of selective trait breeding, using “rapist roosters” as an example of breeding-gone-wrong. This example also sets up one of the major themes of this chapter: human selection pressure on animals.
pg. 72 – 81 Grandin explains selection pressure and describes intentional and accidental selection pressures and their consequences. The reason selection pressure (both accidental and intentional) is so dangerous is that “when you’re trying to change a physical trait you very, very often end up changing an emotional and behavioral trait, too” (76). “Psycho hens” and other albino animals exemplify the behavioral and emotional consequences of people applying selection pressure to animals. “Incidental” (accidental) selection pressure can, however, also produce benign or even good results in some animals, as in the case of the pigs Grandin discusses on pages 80 – 81.
pg. 81 – 88 Grandin uses the example of purebred dogs—animals rife with problems resulting from selective breeding—to demonstrate the powerful and often negative effects of humans asserting selection pressure on animals.
pg. 88 – 93 Grandin introduces the concept that the “primary” or “core” emotions are distinct in the brain and remain distinct as long as the neocortex doesn’t get involved. Because the neocortex is in charge of making abstract connections, it is the place where emotions (which begin in the limbic system or “animal brain”) get “mixed.” That explains why non-autistic people, who have well-functioning neocortexes, can experience mixed emotions, while animals and autistic people generally can’t.
pg. 93 – 94 Grandin introduces the four “core emotions”: rage, prey chase drive, fear, and curiosity/interest/anticipation. She also introduces the four “social emotions”: sexual attraction and lust, separation and distress (mother and baby), social attachment, and play and roughhousing.
pg. 94 – 98 Grandin discusses the SEEKING drive and its relatedness to novelty.
pg. 98 – 100 Grandin explains the brain’s impulse to find correlations (connections) among the things it encounters. This impulse can sometimes lead both people and animals to form superstitions, but it is also the basis of learning.
pg. 100 – 109 Grandin discusses mate selection and sex, which depend on a complex interplay of “hard-wiring” in the brain and cultural learning.
pg. 109 – 124 Grandin discusses animal sociality, asserting that companionship and social interaction is vital in all mammals.
pg. 124 – 126 Grandin discusses the only “mixed emotion” that animals feel: curiosity and fear.
pg. 126 – 130 Grandin reiterates her claim that the primary emotions are distinct and reasserts the importance of friendship in all mammals.
Chapter Four: “Animal Aggression”
pg. 131 – 133 Grandin introduces this chapter with a framing question: given that dogs are essentially “predators wired to kill” (131), how is it possible that we have made them our docile, loyal pets? This chapter will be about answering this question.
pg. 134 Grandin introduces the two types of “core” aggression: predatory aggression and emotional or affective aggression.
pg. 134 – 143 Grandin discusses predatory aggression.
pg. 143 – 148 Grandin discusses affective aggression, which she also refers to as rage.
pg. 148 – 150 Grandin explains that some animals are genetically predisposed to aggression. Male animals also tend to be more aggressive than females.
pg. 150 – 152 Grandin discusses animal violence, a surprising and – for some – disconcerting concept: we typically don’t expect the same kind of cruel behavior from animals that we see in people.
pg. 152 – 155 Grandin describes how animals learn to control their own aggression. Animals learn this through socialization with others of their own species.
pg. 155 – 164 Grandin discusses the importance of socialization in developing happy, emotionally healthy and well-behaved animals. According to Grandin, all mammals must be socialized 1) with others of their own species, 2) with other animals, and 3) with people at an early age.
pg. 164 – 176 Grandin discusses how to prevent and manage aggression in animals, mainly dogs. Throughout this discussion, Grandin explains why certain types of aggression occur and how people can and should respond.
pg. 176 – 177 Grandin wraps up the chapter by suggesting a potential answer to her initial question.
