Malcolm Gladwell

What do you do when your experimental raccoon colony does escape and moves into your lab's ventilation system? As behaviorism gained steam, scientists in the big cities attacked the nascent science of raccoons. Wasn't this all a bit silly? Meanwhile, other behaviorists complained that keeping raccoon colonies was really just a huge pain in the neck. And so we got the century of the rat.

And to a lesser degree, the pigeon. This behaviorism is a theory of control.

And to a lesser degree, the pigeon. This behaviorism is a theory of control.

Behaviorists thought they were studying an animal that stood in for all human beings. But actually, they wound up studying a lot of lab rats. And that led us to some pretty flawed conclusions about people. We'll be right back.

Behaviorists thought they were studying an animal that stood in for all human beings. But actually, they wound up studying a lot of lab rats. And that led us to some pretty flawed conclusions about people. We'll be right back.

For a little while now, I've been interested in how the lab rat has shaped our understanding of human beings. Rats are all over the history of psychology. Rat studies of depression. Rat studies of cooperation. Rat studies of rationality. Think about the way we speak. Rat in a maze. The rat race. Mall rat. Gym rat. Smell a rat. A rat's nest. It's all rats all the way down.

For a little while now, I've been interested in how the lab rat has shaped our understanding of human beings. Rats are all over the history of psychology. Rat studies of depression. Rat studies of cooperation. Rat studies of rationality. Think about the way we speak. Rat in a maze. The rat race. Mall rat. Gym rat. Smell a rat. A rat's nest. It's all rats all the way down.

I figured if anyone could tell me about how exactly this all came to be, it would be one of the leading rat behavioral researchers in the country, Dr. Kelly Lambert at the University of Richmond.

I figured if anyone could tell me about how exactly this all came to be, it would be one of the leading rat behavioral researchers in the country, Dr. Kelly Lambert at the University of Richmond.

Lambert loves rats. She's written a book called The Lab Rat Chronicles. A neuroscientist reveals life lessons from the planet's most successful mammals. She's particularly famous for experiments where she taught rats to drive cars, which, if we're being honest, is really why I got into Richmond.

Lambert loves rats. She's written a book called The Lab Rat Chronicles. A neuroscientist reveals life lessons from the planet's most successful mammals. She's particularly famous for experiments where she taught rats to drive cars, which, if we're being honest, is really why I got into Richmond.

If you've seen Stuart Little in his red convertible, you're not even half prepared for the image of a lab rat hunched over the dashboard on what appears to be a monster truck, just careening towards a bunch of Froot Loops. Lambert loves working with her rats. But lately, she's also been questioning how the rat became the be-all, end-all for understanding human beings.

If you've seen Stuart Little in his red convertible, you're not even half prepared for the image of a lab rat hunched over the dashboard on what appears to be a monster truck, just careening towards a bunch of Froot Loops. Lambert loves working with her rats. But lately, she's also been questioning how the rat became the be-all, end-all for understanding human beings.

Basically, it's the lab rat industry. There was a whole factory line system around producing lab rats via mass inbreeding, premised on the fantasy that the inbred rats were basically interchangeable with one another.

Basically, it's the lab rat industry. There was a whole factory line system around producing lab rats via mass inbreeding, premised on the fantasy that the inbred rats were basically interchangeable with one another.

This was all taking off around the time Lawrence Cole's work with raccoons was being cast aside. That kind of inbreeding helped create rats who were much more docile and easier to control than wild rats, and certainly than raccoons. Which meant it gave the behaviorists easier, more reliable data. And then it just took off.

This was all taking off around the time Lawrence Cole's work with raccoons was being cast aside. That kind of inbreeding helped create rats who were much more docile and easier to control than wild rats, and certainly than raccoons. Which meant it gave the behaviorists easier, more reliable data. And then it just took off.

Soon, a prominent psychologist described the field as being infected by a plague of rats. Millions of dollars poured into rat studies. The leader of the Yale Institute of Human Relations announced that anything he observed about rats' behaviors, among other animals, was, quote, end quote. Let me play you a bit of film that Yale Institute produced.

Soon, a prominent psychologist described the field as being infected by a plague of rats. Millions of dollars poured into rat studies. The leader of the Yale Institute of Human Relations announced that anything he observed about rats' behaviors, among other animals, was, quote, end quote. Let me play you a bit of film that Yale Institute produced.

I think it goes a long way to showing exactly how confident these people were in what studying rats could tell us about people.