EMPATHY STUDY: Rats forsake chocolate to save a drowning companion

[kpete]

?itok=DfiBl0At

The new study, by researchers at the Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, puts those doubts to rest, Mason says. For their test of altruistic behavior, the team devised an experimental box with two compartments divided by a transparent partition. On one side of the box, a rat was forced to swim in a pool of water, which it strongly disliked. Although not at risk of drowning—the animal could cling to a ledge—it did have to tread water for up to 5 minutes. The only way the rodent could escape its watery predicament was if a second rat—sitting safe and dry on a platform—pushed open a small round door separating the two sides, letting it climb onto dry land.

Within a few days, the high-and-dry rats were regularly aiding their soaking companions by opening the door, the team reports online today in Animal Cognition. They did not open the door when the pool was dry, confirming that the rats were helping in response to others’ distress, rather than because they wanted company, Mason says. Rats that had previously been immersed learned how to save their cagemates much more quickly than those who had never been soaked, suggesting that empathy drove their behavior, she adds. “Not only does the rat recognize distress, but he is even more moved to act because he remembers being in that situation.”

Next, the team put the rodents to the ultimate test, pitting chocolate against altruism. In this experiment, rats on the dry platform had to choose between two doors, one that allowed their soaked companion to escape from the pool and another that provided access to a tasty chocolate treat. The rodents chose to help their companions before seeking the snack 50% to 80% of the time, showing that the urge to help a fellow rat was at least as strong as the desire for food, the authors say.

People differ from rats in many ways, but the study supports a growing body of evidence that there’s an evolutionary basis for helpful behavior, independent of culture or upbringing, Mason says. “Humans are not helping purely because mom taught us to help,” she says. “In part—and to what degree remains to be seen—we help because it’s in our biology.”




more:
http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2015/05/rats-forsake-chocolate-save-drowning-companion
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-015-0872-2

[Cleita]

1. I had an acquaintance who once worked with lab mice. She said they

were very empathetic within the colony, even raising the babies whose mothers had died. Since rats are rodents too, it would seem they would have some of the same traits.

[smokey nj]

2. More proof that rats are better than Republicans.

[onehandle]

4. Yeah. If Scott Walker had his way...

...he would conduct these same experiments with food stamp recipients.

[leveymg]

5. If it were WI, chocolate would be unavailable - off the list

No job, go drown.

[kpete]

11. "LET HIM DIE"

"Let Him Die"

A debate question exposes the incoherence—and cowardice—of the Republican candidates' opposition to Obamacare.




Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum at the Sept. 12 debates
Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum at the Sept. 12 debates
Wolf Blitzer put a terrific question to Rep. Ron Paul at last night's CNN/Tea Party Express Republican debate in Tampa, Fla. What should happen, the moderator asked hypothetically, if a healthy 30-year-old man who can afford insurance chooses not to buy it—and then becomes catastrophically ill and needs intensive care for six months? When Dr. Paul ducked, fondly recalling the good old days before Medicare and saying that we should all take responsibility for ourselves, Blitzer pressed the point. "But, Congressman, are you saying the society should just let him die?" At that point, the rabble erupted in cheers and whoops of "Yeah!"

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_big_idea/2011/09/let_him_die.html

[Enthusiast]

18. Excellent point.

[randome]

3. "Rats deserting a sinking ship" seems like a misplaced aphorism now.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Scootaloo]

14. Not at all. it just means that the fleeing rats use a buddy system.

[Joe Chi Minh]

23. Well, it just sounds like common sense to me. But then it's usually used in a metphorical

sense, which doesn't necessarily reflect well on the person/people in question... sort of disloyalty.

[hifiguy]

6. Proof that rats are better creatures than

billionaires and banksters. Not that it's really a surprise.

[freshwest]

7. The latter are more influenced by the reptilian part of the brain, I guess. n/t

[Enthusiast]

19. No surprise at all.

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[CanonRay]

8. Apparently rats are not Republicans

Maybe I should think better of them?

[valerief]

9. I guess we'll have to stop calling CEOs and Republicans rats. They don't deserve to be so honored

with that name.

[hifiguy]

16. I'm partial to

shitweasels. After a grotesque creature in a Stephen King novel. And it just sounds right,

[Enthusiast]

20. Dreamcatcher.

[hifiguy]

21. . . . .

[Duppers]

10. All *moral* behavior is rooted in Empathy.

And empathy springs from evolutionary biology -- not the Bible. To live and thrive in any group we must help each other.

[Duppers]

12. article from Berkeley.edu

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_evolution_of_empathy

[Scootaloo]

15. ETHICAL behavior

Morality tends to actually be a list of exceptions to ethical standards, and in every case are purly cultural - that is, what is and isn't "moral" varies between societies, but what is ethical usually does not.

[Pakid]

13. So what you are saying

is that Rats are a whole lot smarter and more decent than Republicans. No surprise there

[Enthusiast]

17. Those must be the Christian, bible believing Rats. The atheist rats would eat the chocolate first.

But you knew that.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL] [URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[aikoaiko]

22. Must not have used rats who were about to ovulate.

Priorities can change

[RufusTFirefly]

24. Milk chocolate? No contest. But dark chocolate? That'd be a tough call. n/t

[Sheepshank]

25. if rats just didn't have those tails.....I just can't abide rats.

In the same fashion that some fear spiders or snakes or heights...my *ick* is rats. It's good they have some sense of compassion, but but but but

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. Wall Street rats would figure 'more chocolate for me'.

[Starry Messenger]

27. Altruism is more common in young humans too.

http://news.nd.edu/news/37914-new-studies-link-gene-to-selfish-behavior-in-kids-find-other-children-natural-givers/

The development of selfish behavior is usually a result of higher class status:

http://business.time.com/2011/08/12/study-the-rich-really-are-more-selfish/

[Jack Rabbit]

28. This proves rats are more human than Republicans

or other austerity hawks.