Rats Driving Cars

[Robert Zwilling]

This article is about their behavior, responses, and expectations of rewards in various situations but I think I think the fact that the rats learned to drive the cars so they could go somewhere or just drive around is not the same thing as learning how to run through a maze. Decisions have to be made while driving, which indicates that the rats, and by extension, other animals are capable of intelligent reasoning. A good test would be to build a race track, complete with a rat audience and concession venders, and see how they adapt to going to the races every Saturday afternoon. Might as well give them cell phones so they can call each other whenever they feel like it.

 

[Dave]

I did a GCSE 'A' level research project on rat behaviour. Yes, I did run them through mazes but no vehicles. They are very intelligent animals capable of reasoning. That's why they are so successful in colonising the world. All rodents get a very bad press.

I think the fact that the rats learned to drive the cars so they could go somewhere or just drive around is not the same thing as learning how to run through a maze.

I think you mean here: because there appears to be no immediate gain for them in terms of food or shelter, etc. But these laboratory rats have food and water and shelter, and all their other immediate basic needs are catered for in the lab environment. Once those lower basic needs are catered for, intelligence automatically set's itself to investigating other things. They'd get bored otherwise. We all have our psychological and self-fulfilment needs, even rats!

Chiquo, CC BY-SA 4.0 <Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

[Ursa major]

I was rather more impressed that a cat had a PhD:

Working with postdoctoral fellow Kitty Hartvigsen....

 

[Foxbat]

I presume they drive Rat Rods…

Rat rod - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Crows are also extremely intelligent and have their own particular style of fun

 

[Ursa major]

...one Ring to slide them....