Preference for familiar humans by rats

Many "higher" animals are commonly assumed to distinguish between individual humans. This belief is based largely on anecdotal reports; in reality, there is little empirical evidence to support human recognition in nonhuman species. We report that laboratory rats consistently chose a famil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychonomic bulletin & review 1997-03, Vol.4 (1), p.118-120
Main Authors: Davis, Hank, Taylor, Allison A., Norris, Christina
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Many "higher" animals are commonly assumed to distinguish between individual humans. This belief is based largely on anecdotal reports; in reality, there is little empirical evidence to support human recognition in nonhuman species. We report that laboratory rats consistently chose a familiar human over an unfamiliar human following fourteen and five 10-min exposures and even following a single 10-min exposure. Furthermore, this preference was retained in the absence of additional contact for at least 5 months. These results confirm that laboratory rats can tell individual humans apart, a prerequisite for associating them with hedonic events. Such human-based conditioning, described by Pavlov and by Gantt, Newton, Royer, and Stephens (1966), may have important implications for animal research in a variety of settings.
ISSN:1069-9384
1531-5320
DOI:10.3758/BF03210783