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Science 15 December 1972:
Vol. 178. no. 4066, pp. 1220 - 1221
DOI: 10.1126/science.178.4066.1220
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Articles

Observational Learning and Social Facilitation in the Rat

Thomas R. Zentall 1 and John M. Levine 1

1 Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Learning by rats was facilitated when response-relevant cues were provided by other rats; learning increased as a function of number of cues provided. These results suggest that rats can learn by imitation. Learning by rats that observed conspecifics not emitting response-relevant cues was retarded compared to learning by rats that did not observe conspecifics. This indicates that a conspecific's presence can also inhibit learning, a result consistent with social facilitation theory.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)