Are There Multiple Motivators for Helping Behavior in Rats?

Abstract

Empathy is the ability to (a) be affected by and share the emotional state of another; (b) assess the reasons for the other’s state; and (c) identify with the other, adopting their perspective. This phenomenon has been shown to exist in several species and is proposed as a motivator for prosocial behavior. The experimental study of this feature in laboratory rodents is a more viable alternative in comparison to wild animals. A recent report showed that rats opened a door to free their cage mate from a restraint box. Although this behavior has been suggested to be motivated by empathy, this fact has been questioned by several studies that proposed other motivators for the releasing behavior. In the present study, we use an adaptation of the protocol of releasing behavior to investigate aspects of empathy and pro-sociality such as familiarity and reciprocity. In addition, we addressed some potential motivational factors that could influence this behavior. The main results showed that (1) rats opened the restraint box to free conspecifics most of the time; (2) direct reciprocity or past restriction experience did not improve releasing performance, probably due to a ceiling effect; (3) after a series of trials in the presence of a restricted conspecific, the free rat continues to open the restraint box even if it is empty; (4) in general, the opening performance improves across trials and phases, resembling learning curves; (5) if the first series of trials occurs with the empty box, the opening behavior does not occur and is modest in subsequent trials with a trapped animal; (6) the exploratory drive toward the restraint box and desire for social contact do not seem to function as key motivators for releasing behavior. In conclusion, our findings do not support that the opening behavior is exclusively related to empathic motivation. While multiple factors might be involved, our study suggests that task learning triggered (and possibly reinforced) by the presence of the restricted rat can function as a motivator. Further investigations are required to fully understand the mechanisms and motivation factors guiding the releasing behavior.

Observation of rescue behaviour in wild boar (Sus scrofa)

“…In rats, the opening latency decreased across trials, indicating a learning curve 37 . Social facilitation learning is another alternative explanation in which the presence of conspecifics could have influenced the behaviour in others 37 . For example, the rescue behaviour of the female could have been triggered or facilitated by the presence of other boars as well as influenced to be more efficient or fast.…”

“…Prosocial behaviour, however, does not have to be motivated only by empathy 8 . Other alternative underlying mechanisms, such as social contact seeking 14 , a selfish act to terminate the signals of stress 8,65 , curiosity 37 , and an opening of the trap by accident, have been proposed. We can, however, rule out most of these hypotheses.…”

“…Unfortunately, we do not have any photo material to document what happened and which species or individuals were involved. Learning and previous experience was suggested as www.nature.com/scientificreports/ a potential motivator of releasing behaviour in rats 37 and dogs 21 . In rats, the opening latency decreased across trials, indicating a learning curve 37 .…”

“…Learning and previous experience was suggested as www.nature.com/scientificreports/ a potential motivator of releasing behaviour in rats 37 and dogs 21 . In rats, the opening latency decreased across trials, indicating a learning curve 37 . Social facilitation learning is another alternative explanation in which the presence of conspecifics could have influenced the behaviour in others 37 .…”

“O Sister, Where Art Thou?”—A Review on Rescue of Imperiled Individuals in Ants

“…Thus, the authors claimed that their study showed the irrelevance of social rewards for rescue occurrence. These results were then followed by another study [ 87 ]. Perhaps most importantly, the authors showed that rats that previously rescued their cagemates from the restrainers showed no decrease in the frequency of opening or the time to open the restrainers when they were then presented to them empty.…”