Rat

Emotional behavior in the rat: I

Proposes that measuring aspect of rat behavior in a contained arena indicates the emotional reactivity of the subjects. Specifically, both the number of fecal boli deposited and the activity patterns correlates with the levels of fear and emotional reactivity. Large...

Year Published: 1934Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hall, C. S. 1934. Emotional behavior in the rat: I. Defecation and urination as measures of individual differences in emotionality. Journal of Comparative Psychology 18, 385-403.

A study of the rat’s behavior in a field: A contribution to method in comparative psychology

THE OPEN-FIELD (OF) TEST, originally developed by Hall (Hall & Ballachey, 1932), is one of the most widely used methods in the study of emotionality in rodents. The test is conducted in an enclosed open area in which the animal...

Year Published: 1932Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hall, C. S., Ballachey, E. L. 1932. A study of the rat's behavior in a field: A contribution to method in comparative psychology. University of California Publications in Psychology 6, 1-12.

Animal behavior and internal drives

Rats run up to 43 km/24 h in running wheels.

Year Published: 1927Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Richter, C. P. 1927. Animal behavior and internal drives. Comparative Psychology Monographs 1, 1-55.

Spontaneous activity in the rat

Rats obviously prefer running wheels over tunnels: Subjects ran more than 6 km/ 24 h in a running wheel but only less then 0.2 km in a circular tunnel run.

Year Published: 1954Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Eayrs, J. T. 1954. Spontaneous activity in the rat. Animal Behaviour 2, 25-30.

Rank order in caged rats

Rank-related conflicts are not common in caged rats

Year Published: 1958Animal Type: Rat

Citation: Grant, E. C., Chance, M. R. A. 1958. Rank order in caged rats. Animal Behaviour 6, 183-194.

Effects of enriched and restricted early environments on the learning ability of bright and dull rats

The bright animals reared in enriched environments [group-housing with numerous enrichment gadgets] showed no improvement in learning ability over bright controls reared under normal laboratory condition [group-housing in barren cage]. The dull animals, on the other hand, benefited greatly from...

Year Published: 1958Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Cooper, R. M., Zubek, J. P. 1958. Effects of enriched and restricted early environments on the learning ability of bright and dull rats. Canadian Journal of Psychology 12, 159-164.

An experimental investigation of the role of social experience in the production of gastric ulcers in hooded rats

Rats in a chronic approach-avoidance conflict situation alone had significantly greater resultant ulceration than animals tested together.

Year Published: 1957Animal Type: Rat

Citation: Conger, J. J., Sawrey, W. L., Turrell, E. S. 1957. An experimental investigation of the role of social experience in the production of gastric ulcers in hooded rats. American Psychologist 12, 410 (Abstract).

Influence of gentling on physiology of the rat

Handled animals tended to have greater skeletal length than control animals.

Year Published: 1956Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Ruegamer, W. R., Silverman, F. R. 1956. Influence of gentling on physiology of the rat. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 92, 170-174.

Environmental factors influencing gonadotrophin assay in the rat

The variation in ovary weight (test response) was greater if the cages were small, if there was frequent disturbance by changing cages and cage-mates, and if the rats were caged either singly or in groups larger than two, with the...

Year Published: 1956Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Chance, M. R. A. 1956. Environmental factors influencing gonadotrophin assay in the rat. Nature 177, 228-229.

Socially facilitated reduction of a fear response in rats

The presence of a conspecific mediates fear responses to a stressful situation.

Year Published: 1955Animal Type: Rat

Citation: Davitz, J. R., Mason, D. J. 1955. Socially facilitated reduction of a fear response in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 48, 149-151.