Throughout history, generations watched as the younger generation took the helm. With each transition of power, the older generation has often disapproved of the behavior and decisions of the younger. This was particularly evident in the early 20th century. Events like the roaring ’20s, the world wars, and the great depression left people wondering if the world was ending. Some people in that era believed that the overpopulation of cities was leading to adverse changes in human behavior. Researcher John Calhoun set out to discover if the behavioral sink was a reality. For some, Calhoun proved the phenomena. For others, he only showed the importance of accountability structures in the world. The story of the mouse utopia experiment might make you lose hope in humanity or maybe make you more hopeful.
The First Mouse Utopia Experiment
John Calhoun built an experiment to study moral decay in society. He built an enclosure for rats separated into four equal parts in his experiment. Each section was separated by electric fences and connected by a small bridge over the wall. There were a few twists in this experiment, though.
The bridges connecting the sections were only combined three of the areas. Second, certain areas had better food and nesting locations than the others. The rats were required to go through the other sections to get to the unit with the best food.
Behavioral Sink
The layout of the rat enclosure led to a severe moral decay within the colony. Early in the morning, the beta males would rise and travel across the bridges together the excellent food and bring it back to their ‘neighborhood.’ The reason for the early morning migration was because the alpha males would guard the bridges once they awoke. The alphas were known to attack any intruders.
Another change in behavior was a result of the nesting setup. Some of the units had taller nests with a series of ramps leading to the nest while others had nested on the ground level. Those with the higher nests saw a decrease in the quality of child-rearing. It was as if the inconvenience of climbing to the nest made the mothers only climb when it was absolutely necessary.
The Second Mouse Utopia Experiment
After seeing the results of the first experiment John Calhoun realized that his modifications to the enclosure played too much of a role in the changes of behavior. So, he decided to try the experiment again. For his second experiment, he made a much larger enclosure that was wide open. He made no modifications that would provide a different ‘quality of life for any of the mice in this experiment. Also, this time he used mice.
This time around it took longer to see any changes, but the behavioral changes still occurred. Various groups arose within the colony including recluses, solitary house mice, sexual deviants, and even cannibals. Each group showed different deviant behavior that unhinged on the safety of the others.
Conclusion
Calhoun came to the conclusion that population increases correlate to behavioral degradation in a community. Many after him refuted his claims. The largest rebuttal stated that all communities show some level of moral deviation, the reason it was prevalent in Calhoun’s experiments was that there were no social structures to prevent dangerous behavior.
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Sources
Mouse Utopia Experiment – IFL Science
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