Does a rat release a soaked conspecific due to empathy?
In Experiment 1, rats choosing in an E maze preferred to release a rat standing in a pool of water to dry ground over a rat already standing on dry ground. Five additional experiments showed that the choosing rat's preference for releasing the wet rat was maintained by two separable outcomes: (1) the social contact offered by the released rat and (2) the reinforcing value of proximity to a pool of water. These results call into question Sato et al.'s (Anim Cogn 18:1039-1047, 2015) claim to have demonstrated that a rat's releasing of a wet rat to dry ground is empathically motivated.
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA. ls9781a@student.american.edu.
Lindsay P
LP
Schwartz
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
Alan
A
Silberberg
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
Anna H
AH
Casey
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
David N
DN
Kearns
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
Burton
B
Slotnick
D000818:Animals; D004645:Empathy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012919:Social Behavior
Empathy; Rats; Social contact; Water