Experimental Models of the Dyadic Operant Behavior of Rats in Different Social Contexts

To date, a number of methods for and approaches to the study of animal social behavior are used in ethology and neurophysiology. The present study describes experimental models of the operant behavior of rats in dyads, in which the animals have to compete or cooperate to earn a food or water reward delivered automatically after pressing the image of a conditioned stimulus presented on a touch-sensitive display. Three hardware-software modifications, which enable the presentation of conditioned stimuli and rewards in three social contexts, i.e., individual learning, competition, and cooperation, have been developed and tested using the Rat Touch Screen Chamber experimental complex (Lafayette Instrument, United States). These experimental models and data analysis algorithms make it possible to distinguish between different types of dyadic interactions and to identify certain behavioral patterns such as parasitism and donorship during competition or leadership during cooperation. All these methods are based on implementation of the same instrumental skills acquired by animals during individual learning sessions. Therefore, they can be used in comparative analysis of the effects of zoosocial, physiological, and pharmacological factors on the typological and individual features of animal groups.