Pain empathy and brain activity. Empathy refers to being able to understand and vicariously feel what others actually feel. Neuroscientists at University College London investigated the relationship between brain activity and pain-related empathy in persons who watch others in pain (Science, February 20, 2004). Sixteen couples participated in the experiment. The female partner watched while painful stimulation was applied to the finger of her male partner. Two variables were measured for each female: y = pain-related brain activity (measured on a scale ranging from -2 to 2) and x = score on the Empathic Concern Scale (0-25 points).
The data are listed in the next table (p. 115). The research question of interest was: ‘‘Do people scoring higher in empathy show higher pain-related brain activity?'' Use simple linear regression analysis to answer the research question.
|
Couple
|
Brain Activity ( y )
|
Empathic Concern ( x )
|
|
1
|
.05
|
12
|
|
2
|
-.03
|
13
|
|
3
|
.12
|
14
|
|
4
|
.20
|
16
|
|
5
|
.35
|
16
|
|
6
|
0
|
17
|
|
7
|
.26
|
17
|
|
8
|
.50
|
18
|
|
9
|
.20
|
18
|
|
10
|
.21
|
18
|
|
11
|
.45
|
19
|
|
12
|
.30
|
20
|
|
13
|
.20
|
21
|
|
14
|
.22
|
22
|
|
15
|
.76
|
23
|
|
16
|
.35
|
24
|