Aggressive behavior in the rat

Abstract

Analysis of attack and defense patterns among dominant colony rats and introduced strangers indicates that laboratory rats show a range of attack and defensive behavior equivalent to that of wild rats. This analysis also suggests that specific attack and defensive reactions have evolved as tactics enabling the attacking animal to bite, or the defending animal to protect, vulnerable back and head sites of the defender. Examination of specific behaviors obtained in “aggression,” “fighting,” or “dominance” tasks suggests that no commonly employed psychological test provides an adequate measure of intraspecific attack behavior.