This Rat Can Drive a Car?! | Animal IQ

Rats are study subjects, ecosystem scavengers, experimental analogs for human beings, and safe drivers…? Check out Otherwords on PBS Storied: Like this episode of #AnimalIQ? Whale maybe you should subscribe to Terra 🐋 Some people find rats disgusting, but they are fascinating study subjects for #animalIQ because of their unique status in the scientific community and laboratory environment! Rats aren’t just good at solving mazes, these little rodents comprehend complex concepts like sharing is caring, and treat others as you would like to be treated. They understand when they’re being tested, and if they believe they are going to fail some rats won’t even make an attempt. If you don’t see a little bit of yourselves in rats after this episode, I’d be really surprised. What can we learn about #animalintelligence from rats? Natalia and Trace call up Dr. Kelly Lambert from the University of Richmond to learn more! On Animal IQ we dig into the research and talk to the experts to find out just how smart animals appear to be. We then use that knowledge to fill in our AIQ Rubric across five domains of intelligence: Social, Rational, Awareness, Ecological, and our own intelligence X-Factor. Every animal is clever, but their talents vary based on their evolution, biology, values, adaptations, and environment. We hope y’all learn how each of our animals tick on Animal IQ! This program is produced in collaboration with PBS Nature! Follow them across the internet: YouTube: Twitter: Instagram: Facebook: Website: Support was also provided by PBS Digital Studios! Follow them and learn more every day: Twitter: Instagram: Facebook: You can also seek out our experts and hosts here: :: Dr Livio Favaro :: Twitter: University Website: :: Dr Natalia Borrego :: Instagram: Lion Lab website: :: Trace Dominguez :: Twitter: Instagram: YouTube: 📚 READ MORE Metacognition: rats check their own knowledge before taking a test Animals often show a keen intelligence and many species, from octopuses to crows, can perform problem-solving tasks. But humans are thought to go one step further. We can reflect on our own thoughts and we have knowledge about our knowledge. We can not only solve problems, but we know in advance if we can (or are likely to). The Rat Car Study: Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills Rats were taught to drive tiny cars using Froot Loops as rewards. Rats living in an enriched environment were generally faster learners. Even after the researchers stopped offering rewards, the enriched environment rats were still interested in driving the tiny car, indicating that the driving experience may have been enjoyable or rewarding in itself for some rats. Rats Trade Commodities Rats appear to display reciprocity, not only within one type of commodity (i.e. trading food for food), but also across commodity types (i.e. trading food for grooming services). In this experiment, researchers provided a subject rat with a partner rat, who either did or did not provide the subject with a commodity (providing grooming services or moving a piece of food within reach of the subject). In this episode of Animal IQ you can see these rats drive, and learn more about their intelligence! 🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀