# Study showing empathy in rats :)



## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

I just thought this was interesting and very sweet, so give it a read 

"In a study published Dec. 7 in Science, Mason and University of Chicago psychologists Jean Decety and Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal describe their rat empathy-testing apparatus: An enclosure into which pairs of rats were placed, with one roaming free and the other restrained inside a plastic tube. It could only be opened from the outside, which is exactly what the free rats did - again and again and again, seemingly in response to their trapped companions' distress."

Full article: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/rat-empathy/all/1


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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

wow! thats awesome, feel sorry for the rat though


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Yeah... It's a shame that we have to 'prove' things like this through testing that purposefully distresses the animal.... but at least its not cosmetic testing! 
I just like that the rats were offered chocolate went to let out their friend straight away, and then shared the chocolate! Think I'd eat the chocolate first haha!


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

In one of our psyc classes, we learned about a similar study involving different types of primates. Some species would share food/freedom, others would not.


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