Rats preferred freeing caged rats rather than eating food placed in the cage: A new model of empathy
Study proves empathy in rats
A special study carried out by AAAS showed that the rats chose to liberate imprisoned rats instead of eating their food that was placed near their cage. This test suggested that rats showed a lot of empathy- which is usually only seen in the primates.
The University of Chicago researchers performed a few experiments to check if rats would choose to help another rat to come out of the cage if they could. The researchers got surprising results- a free rat helped the caged rat to come out of it.
They saw that after hearing crying calls asking for help from another caged rat, the free rat desperately tried to free the rat and that too very efficiently. Not only that, free rat also saved some of its own food for the other one.
The examiners also came to an obvious conclusion about what they saw- empathy as well as a selfless behavior which was totally driven by a mental state. Here’s is its VIDEO
Source: washingtonpost
