Look Who it Was Random video

Can Rats Learn From Each Other - Example!

2,390 views · Published 18 March 2018 · 3:16 · Indexed 25 October 2026

Channel: Shadow The Rat · 2018 · Pets & Animals

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Can rats learn new behaviors from each other? I decided to test this with my two girls Cookie and Cream.

To describe what happens in this video, Cookie had been shaped to run continuously through a tube. Each time she did so, she received a lick of yogurt. Next I left placed the tube next to her sister Cream. Cream was very curious about what Cookie was doing, and very much wanted the treat. But I refused to give her any signal as to what I wanted, and wouldn't reward her for any "half-steps" (usually when you train you reward for small steps towards the goal - i.e. being near the tunnel, sticking her head in the tunnel, etc.) Finally Cream followed Cookie through the tunnel, which is when I finally rewarded. 

But the question remained, did she internalize the behavior enough to do it on her own? Turns out she did, because just a few seconds later she joined Cookie in her tube sprinting! All in all, using Cookie to "model" the behavior turned out to be a FASTER way to train Cream to go through the tunnel (this may sound strange, but Cream was actually nervous about entering the tunnel before this video) - I got to skip out on the desensitization and shaping that usually come along with training a continuous behavior!!!

Anyway, hope you enjoy this cool demonstration that rats can and do learn by copying each other.

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Music:
 - Carefree Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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