Rats know when they don’t know
Rats were given a choice. They could take a test where, if they succeeded, they were given a large reward and if they failed no reward. Or they could decline the test and receive a guaranteed small reward. When the test was easy, rats took it and got the big reward. But when it was hard, they declined. And, indeed, when they were not given the option of declining, they did poorly on the hard test. So rats accurately know when they don’t know something. Someone page Donald Rumsfeld.
- The study (sub. req.)
- Write-up in AAAS’s ScienceNOW
- The study: Metacognition in the Rat [PDF]