Preference for familiar humans by rats

Publication Type:
 Journal Article
Year of Publication:
 1997
Authors:
 Hank Davis, A. Taylor, Christina Norris
Publication/Journal:
 Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Keywords:
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Abstract:

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. Wereport that laboratory rats consistently chose a familiar human
over an unfamiliar human following fourteen and five IO-min exposures and even following a single
IO-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.

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