title: Functional analysis of mutual behavior in laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus).
abstract: Three pairs of rats were trained to synchronize their lever pressing according to a mutual reinforcement contingency, in which alternating lever presses that fell within a 500-ms window were reinforced with food. In Experiment 1, rats worked in adjacent chambers separated by a transparent barrier, and the effects of the mutual reinforcement contingency were compared with those under yoked-control conditions that provided the same rate of food reinforcement but without the temporal coordination response requirement. In Experiment 2, coordinated behavior was compared with and without a barrier, and across different barrier types: transparent, opaque, wire mesh. In Experiment 3, the effects of social familiarity were assessed by switching partners, enabling a comparison of coordinated behavior with familiar and unfamiliar partners. The overall pattern of results shows that the coordinated behavior of 2 rats was (a) maintained by mutual reinforcement contingencies, (b) unrelated to the type or presence of a barrier separating the rats, and (c) sufficiently flexible to adjust to the presence and behavior of an unfamiliar partner. Taken as a whole, the study illustrates a promising approach to conceptualizing and analyzing behavioral mechanisms of mutual behavior, an important component of an integrated study of social behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Reed College.
authors.forename: Lavinia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Reed College.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Hackenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012919:Social Behavior