The behavior of genetically selected loser and winner-runway rats in different competitive situations

doi:10.1016/S0091-6773(75)91728-9

Behavioral Biology

Volume 15, Issue 3, November 1975, Pages 333-342

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0091-6773(75)91728-9 Get rights and content

The performance of genetically selected Winner-Runway rats (WRS) and Loser-Runway rats (LRS) in the food-hole competition and in a labor-division situation was studied. The WRS rats won most of the trials when competing with LRS rats in the runway competition, but both groups had a similar performance in the food-hole test, indicating no correlation between the two procedures. When LRS and WRS rats were paired in the labor-division task, the LRS rats performed most of the bar presses (worker rat) while the WRS received the reward almost without working (parasite rat). This result could be due to the higher bar pressing rate showed by LRS rats in the individual training sessions. To study this possibility another experiment was carried out in which twice as much individual training sessions were given. In this experiment, at the last training trials WRS and LRS rats were performing equally. When they were paired, although the results were in the same direction as in the previous experiment, the difference in the categorization in workers and parasites between WRS and LRS rats reached no statistical significance.

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Winning among rats in a food competition situation as a sex-related behavior
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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (10)

Multidimensional nature of dominant behavior: Insights from behavioral neuroscience
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Citation Excerpt :
For example, when pairs of rats are placed in an operant conditioning chamber (modified Skinner box) with the water dipper and the bar attached on opposite walls (Fig. 9), one of the rats (‘worker’) must activate a mechanism to release food or water to the other (‘parasite’) (Masur and Struffaldi, 1974). Fukasawa et al. also showed that genetically-selected subordinate rats pressed a bar for dominant counterparts to receive water when paired in the labor division task (Fukasawa et al., 1975). It should be noted that as an operant-conditioning paradigm, the labor division task requires individual training sessions where the rodents learn to associate the bar press with receiving drink water (received reward).
Social interactions for many species of animals are critical for survival, wellbeing, and reproduction. Optimal navigation of a social system increases chances for survival and reproduction, therefore there is strong incentive to fit into social structures. Social animals rely heavily on dominant-submissive behaviors in establishment of stable social hierarchies. There is a link between extreme manifestation of dominance/submissiveness and behavioral deviations. To understand neural substrates affiliated with a specific hierarchical rank, there is a real need for reliable animal behavioral models. Different paradigms have been consolidated over time to study the neurobiology of social rank behavior in a standardized manner using rodent models to unravel the neural pathways and substrates involved in normal and abnormal intraspecific social interactions. This review summarizes and discusses the commonly used behavioral tests and new directions for the assessment of dominance in rodents. We discuss the hierarchy inheritable nature and other critical issues regarding hierarchical rank manifestation which may help in designing social-rank-related studies that serve as promising pre-clinical tools in behavioral psychiatry.
The mouse that roared: Neural mechanisms of social hierarchy
2014, Trends in Neurosciences
Citation Excerpt :
In this paradigm, one rat (the ‘worker’) presses a bar for another rat (the ‘parasite’) to get water. Interestingly, rats that were selectively bred based on their dominant tube test performance [20] became the ‘parasite’ in most cases [21]. Agonistic behavior can be frequently observed in a group of mice after transfer to a new and dirty cage, presumably as a way to claim territory in a new environment [6].
Hierarchical social status greatly influences behavior and health. Human and animal studies have begun to identify the brain regions that are activated during the formation of social hierarchies. They point towards the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as a central regulator, with brain areas upstream of the PFC conveying information about social status, and downstream brain regions executing dominance behavior. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the neural circuits that control social status. We discuss how the neural mechanisms for various types of dominance behavior can be studied in laboratory rodents by selective manipulation of neuronal activity or synaptic plasticity. These studies may help in finding the cause of social stress-related mental and physical health problems.
Basic studies on labor division between rats: A reevaluation
1982, Behavioral and Neural Biology
Rats trained to obtain rewards by lever pressing are paired together in a modified Skinner box to investigate the occurrence of labor division. After 12 paired sessions, worker—parasite relationships are established in 67 of 179 pairs. Moreover, labor division is manifested similarly in rats with an extremely wide range of lever pressing baselines. Investigation of the behavioral characteristics of workers and parasites does not reveal any individual differences in acquisition of lever-pressing behavior, but workers show a significantly higher degree of ambulation than parasites in open-field tests. The degrees of emotionality and dominance of workers and parasites differ, suggesting that labor division is a dominance relationship in which workers are dominant and parasites subordinate.
Sex and the worker-parasite relationship between rats
1978, Behavioral Biology
When rats are paired in a modified Skinner box with a water dipper and a bar attached to opposite walls, a worker—parasite relationship develops. One of the rats performs most of the bar-pressing whereas the partner receives the reward almost without working. The influence of sex on this social interaction was studied through testing 14 pairs composed of a male and a female rat. The proportion of workers and parasites was the same for male and females. The role of sex in competitive situations between rats is discussed.
Fighting behavior displayed during the development of a worker-parasite relationship between rats
1977, Behavioral Biology
When previously trained rats are paired in a modified Skinner box, a worker—parasite relationship develops. The characteristics of the fighting episodes which occur during the establishment of this relationship were studied. During the first paired sessions, both rats displayed a similar pattern of aggressive behavior, whereas, at the later sessions, the worker rats were aggressors, and the parasite rats assumed defensive postures. It was concluded that aggression is a consequence and not a determinant of the worker—parasite relationship. In a second experiment, it was observed that pairing two workers induced more aggressive behavior, than when pairing two parasites. This result was explained on the basis of past experience in fighting, determined by the previous role of the rats as workers or parasites.
Agonistic behavior and the maintenance of a learned response in male rats
1977, Behavioral Biology
Two experiments examined the relationship between agonistic behavior and the maintenance of a previously learned response. Following individual training, highly aggressive and less aggressive domesticated male rats were pairs in a modified operant box. A bar press from a single manipulandum (Experiment 1) or one of two manipulanda (Experiment 2) delivered food to both animals. As is typically observed, the vast majority of the bar press responses in the social setting was made by only one of the rats. An unexpected finding was that the more highly aggressive rat was the “worker” for the pair. In addition, the characteristic bar press response decrement in the social context was relatively mild in Experiment 1 and was virtually eliminated for the worker rat in the second investigation. It is suggested that these findings were, at least in part, a function of the social environments in which the animals fought at relatively low levels.

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¹: This work was partially supported by a Grant from Conselho National de Pesquisas (CNPq).

²: Permanent address: Dept. Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da Universidade de Sâo Paulo.

³: With a fellowship from Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (CNPq).

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Behavioral Biology

References (13)

Winning among rats in a food competition situation as a sex-related behavior

Behav. Biol.

Division of labor between rats: influence of differential social rearing conditions

Behav. Biol.

The concept of dominance and methods of assessment

Anim. Behav.

Competitive orders as measures of social dominance

Anim. Behav.

Social dominance in the mouse

Psychon. Sci.

Influence of (-) Δ⁹-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol and mescaline on the behavior of rats submitted to food competition situations

Psychopharmacologia (Berl.)

Cited by (10)

Multidimensional nature of dominant behavior: Insights from behavioral neuroscience

The mouse that roared: Neural mechanisms of social hierarchy

Basic studies on labor division between rats: A reevaluation

Sex and the worker-parasite relationship between rats

Fighting behavior displayed during the development of a worker-parasite relationship between rats

Agonistic behavior and the maintenance of a learned response in male rats

The behavior of genetically selected loser and winner-runway rats in different competitive situations1

Behav. Biol.

Behav. Biol.

Anim. Behav.

Anim. Behav.

Social dominance in the mouse

Psychon. Sci.

Influence of (-) Δ9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol and mescaline on the behavior of rats submitted to food competition situations

Psychopharmacologia (Berl.)

Influence of (-) Δ⁹-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol and mescaline on the behavior of rats submitted to food competition situations