Medical Xpress – Justin H G Williams 
Empathy, the ability to understand others and feel compassion for them, is arguably the most defining human quality – setting us apart from smart machines and even other animals. Without it, we couldn’t function in social areas…But babies and toddlers are generally poor at showing sensitivity to other people’s feelings. So how do they develop this crucial skill – do they learn it gradually or is it just an innate ability that kicks in at a certain age? Empathy involves being sensitive to the emotions of others, understanding those emotions and responding in an appropriate way…it really seems that empathy can be cultivated – relying on adults and peers modelling appropriate emotional responses to events at changing levels of complexity as a child grows. It also depends on the capacity to think about, imagine and reflect on emotional experiences, which may explain why reading fiction appears to improve empathy…as a society we still have some way to go in recognising what we can do to promote healthy emotional development – such as empathy – both in our families and in the wider social context.(more)