Alexander's radical rat experiments
Instead of a small cramped cage, Bruce Alexander constructed a 200-square-foot housing colony for his rats.
Into this space, which was heated just right, were placed delicious cedar shavings and all manner of bright balls and wheels. There was ample space for mating, space for birthing, room to roam, and warm nests for the lactating females.
Sixteen rats went into the fancy rat park. Another sixteen in standard laboratory cages, where space was cramped and isolation extreme.
Because morphine is bitter, and rats hate bitterness, both sets of rats got morphine-laced water sprinkled with sugar.
They also got plain tap water.
When compared, the caged rats drank up to sixteen times more morphine than the park residents.
"Fine. Give a rat Nautilus equipment and sex 24 hours a day and it won't get high. In the real world, people are more vulnerable, and they may begin to use at a bad point in their lives, and once they've started an addictive pursuit, they cannot stop. The withdrawal is so painful, it in and of itself guarantees continued use."
To test this they caged all the rats and turned them into junkies. Then they repeated the experiment. Predictably, the caged group continued to partake. The rat park group, even when already addicted, did not choose morphine and in fact decreased their use, despite withdrawal.
It's not hard to find evidence against rat park's conclusions. Wealthy people, with all their needs met, are often substance abusers. Then there are the actual addicts, unable to extricate herself from the sway of addiction. Meanwhile, OxyContin rips through America.
The idea was just to test animals in a truly benevolent environment, and see whether addiction was still inevitable. If it wasn't, then perhaps, the problem was as much chemical as cultural.
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Image: Stuart McMillen.