I found this article quite fascinating. In 1973, my colleagues and I showed that rats would respond with the future in mind. Specifically, rats will make a response that results in one immediate electric shock, as long as that punished response is instrumental in avoiding five identical shocks programmed to occur 10 seconds later. It would be interesting to find out whether birds would cooperate in a similar manner to reduce the overall levels of pain in their lives.
Joseph V. Lambert University of the Sciences Philadelphia, Pa.
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