Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Causal reasoning in rats.

Aaron P Blaisdell1, Kosuke Sawa, Kenneth J Leising

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. blaisdell@psych.ucla.edu

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|February 18, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Examining non-reinforced lever pressing as intrinsically-motivated behavior.

Animal cognition·2026
Same author

Evidence of the conjunction fallacy in Rats (Rattus norvegicus) following two-lever choice training.

Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)·2026
Same author

The effects of temporal arrangement and landmark stability in a spatial occasion setting task with pigeons.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
Same author

Pigeons, portals, and Pacman: Insightful problem solving and navigation using a touchscreen video game.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2026
Same author

Starlings solve the ephemeral reward task.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2025
Same author

Corrigendum to "Behavioral investigation of the sense of agency in rats by manipulating temporal delays between response and outcome: Insights from a causal reasoning task" [Behav. Brain Res. 496 (2026) 115814].

Behavioural brain research·2025
Same journal

A native sulfur deposit in Gale crater, Mars.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Coordinated demise of harmful algal blooms.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Genetic effects put into context.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Bacteria share proteins to survive antibiotics.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Impacts shaped Earth's first continents.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Erratum for the Report "Covalently bonded single-molecule junctions with stable and reversible photoswitched conductivity" by C. Jia <i>et al</i>.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
See all related articles

Rats demonstrate causal reasoning abilities, challenging the idea that this complex cognition is unique to humans. Their inferences suggest learning goes beyond simple associative processes, aligning with advanced causal models.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Animal Behavior
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Causal reasoning is often considered a uniquely human cognitive ability.
  • Existing theories suggest animals primarily use associative learning for causal inference.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether nonhuman animals, specifically rats, can perform causal reasoning.
  • To challenge the prevailing view that complex causal inference is exclusive to humans.

Main Methods:

  • Rats were presented with a basic causal inference task.
  • The task involved passive observational learning of causal models.
  • Predictions of intervention outcomes were assessed.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Rats successfully made causal inferences in the task.
  • These inferences were made without requiring extensive physical knowledge.
  • Performance could not be explained by standard associative learning theories.

    • Conclusions:

    • Rats exhibit core features of causal reasoning.
    • Findings challenge the dichotomy between human and animal cognition regarding causal inference.
    • Results support the applicability of causal Bayes net theories to animal learning.