Reciprocal altruism in rats: Why does it occur?
The finding of reciprocal altruism in rats does not explain how such behavior came to be. Attributing it to a genetic predisposition or basic learning processes may not be what the authors had in mind, but the alternative, cultural learning, seems even less plausible for rats and perhaps is not even the primary basis for reciprocal altruism in humans.
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA. zentall@uky.edu.
Thomas R
TR
Zentall
D000533:Altruism; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008960:Models, Psychological; D051381:Rats