Abstract
Although a variety of experimental procedures have shown considerable evidence of “counting” in animals, there is no evidence of numerical competence when conspecifics are used as test stimuli. Here, we report evidence of a relative numerousness (2 vs. 4) judgment by rats that were required to discriminate the number of free-ranging conspecifics in an arena. This discrimination was ultimately disrupted by vigorous social interaction between the subjects and the to-be-counted rats. Attempts to restrict the movement of object rats in Experiment 2 did not lead to reestablishment of the discrimination, although 2 animals did show evidence of a simple presence versus absence (0 vs. 5) discrimination, a precursor of numerical ability.
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This research was supported in part by Grant A0673 from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to the first author. The authors are indebted to Craig Gallacher for his technical assistance.
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Davis, H., Hiestand, L. Rats counting rats: The use of conspecifics as discriminative stimuli. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 30, 356–358 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334087
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334087