Rats show direct reciprocity when interacting with multiple partners.

ABSTRACT: Direct reciprocity, where individuals apply the decision rule 'help someone who has helped you', is believed to be rare in non-human animals due to its high cognitive demands. Especially if previous encounters with several partners need to be correctly remembered, animals might either stop reciprocating favours previously received from an individual, or switch to the simpler generalized reciprocity mechanism. Here we tested the decision rules Norway rats apply when interacting with multiple partners before being able to return received help. In a sequential prisoner's dilemma situation, focal subjects encountered four different partners that were either helpful or not, on four consecutive days. On the fifth day, the focal subject was paired with one of the previous four partners and given

SUBMITTER: Kettler N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7864983 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature