Measuring play fighting in rats: a multilayered approach
Abstract
Rough-and-tumble play or play fighting is an important experience in the juvenile period of many species of mammals, as it facilitates the development of social skills, and for some species, play fighting is retained into adulthood as a tool for assessing and managing social relationships. Laboratory rats have been a model species for studying the neurobiology of play fighting and its key developmental and social functions. However, play fighting interactions are complex, involving competition and cooperation; therefore, no single measure to quantify this behavior is able to capture all its facets. Therefore, in this paper, we present a multilayered framework for scoring all the relevant facets of play that can be affected by experimental manipulations and the logic of how to match what is measured with the question being asked. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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Most studies of rat RTP use dyadic tests, which limit partner choice.
“However, most studies of RTP employ the “dyadic test,” in which two animals are partnered. These partners are frequently of the same sex (Pellis, Pellis, Burke, et al. 2022; VanRyzin et al. 2020a). The dyadic test has been extremely useful in studying the RTP of rats but does have a limitation.”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Pellis, Pellis, Burke, et al. 2022
A variety of tactics are used to attack and defend the nape, including launching counterattacks following a successful defense.
“A variety of tactics are used to attack and defend the nape, including launching counterattacks following a successful defense (Himmler et al., 2013; Pellis et al., 2022).”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
Within a rat strain, high players initiate more nape attacks and preferentially use a different suite of rat-typical defensive tactics than low players.
“Within a strain, high players not only initiate more nape attacks, but also preferentially use a different suite of the rat-typical defensive tactics than do low players (Pellis et al., 2022).”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
The dyadic paradigm has become the most widely used experimental paradigm for testing rough-and-tumble play in rats.
“This dyadic paradigm has now become the most widely used experimental paradigm for testing RTP in rats (Pellis et al., 2022).”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
Rats with different styles of rough-and-tumble play may need to modify their use of ultrasonic vocalizations to play together effectively, making rough-and-tumble play in rats a useful window into subtle social communication processes.
“rats with different styles of RTP may need to modify their use of such calls (Pellis et al., 2022) to play together effectively, making RTP in rats a useful window into subtle social communication processes.”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
When rats are tested in groups with multiple partners available, play is not distributed evenly; some partners are favored over others.
“When rats are tested in groups, in which multiple partners are available, play is not distributed evenly. Rather, some partners are favored over others”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
The uneven distribution of play in groups is not simply a by-product of proximity; rats will travel to initiate play with a particular animal.
“and this is not simply a by-product of which of the animals are in closest proximity—rats will leave the company of animals in one part of the enclosure and travel to the other side to initiate play with a particular animal (Pellis et al., 2022).”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
In a group setting, rats preferentially play with particular partners.
“In a group setting, rats preferentially play with particular partners (Pellis et al., 2022)”
From The rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain (2022) · cites this paper as Pellis et al., 2022
Cites
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“…play in the dyadic test (see “Conducting Play Trials”) only constitutes part of the story for animals living in groups like rats (Barnett, 1975; Calhoun, 1963); this is because in more naturalistic conditions, individuals have multiple potential partners with whom to play and who they chose…”
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Self-citationThe role of the medial prefrontal cortex in the play fighting of rats.
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Self-citationDevelopmental analyses of social play behavior in juvenile rats
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Self-citationHimmler, B. T., Stryjek, R., Modlinska, K., Derksen, S. M., Pisula, W., & Pellis, S. M. (2013) · Journal of Comparative Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032187 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Self-citationPeering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats
Himmler, B. T., Pellis, V. C., & Pellis, S. M. (2013) · Journal of Visualized Experiments · doi:10.3791/4288 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Self-citationBurke, C. J., Kisko, T. M., Swiftwolfe, H., Pellis, S. M., & Euston, D. R. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0175841 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citationThor, D. H., & Holloway, W. R. (1986) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/0735-7044.100.2.275 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
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Himmler, S. M., Modlinska, K., Stryjek, R., Himmler, B. T., Pisula, W., & Pellis, S. M. (2014) · Journal of Comparative Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0036104 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Self-citationAchterberg, E. J. M., van Kerkhof, L. W. M., Damsteegt, R., Trezza, V., & Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J. (2015) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2945-14.2015 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationDevelopmental origins of sex differences in the neural circuitry of play
VanRyzin, J. W., Marquardt, A. E., & McCarthy, M. M. (2020) · International Journal of Play · doi:10.1080/21594937.2020.1723370 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
What do you hear what do you say? Ultrasonic calls as signals during play fighting in rats
Burke, C. J., Euston, D. R., & Pellis, S. M. (2020) · International Journal of Play · doi:10.1080/21594937.2020.1720126 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
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Play fighting and the development of the social brain: The rat’s tale
Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., Ham, J. R., & Stark, R. A. (2023) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105037 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Self-citationThe neurobiology of social play behaviour: Past, present and future
Achterberg, E. J. M., & Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J. (2023) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105319 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Self-citationThe rough-and-tumble play of rats as a natural behavior suitable for studying the social brain
Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., Ham, J. R., & Achterberg, E. J. M. (2022) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1033999 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Within a strain, high players not only initiate more nape attacks, but also preferentially use a different suite of the rat-typical defensive tactics than do low players (Pellis et al., 2022).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSelf-citationAchterberg, E. J. M., Burke, C. J., & Pellis, S. M. (2023) · Behavioural Processes · doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104933 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationPartner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play
Ham, J. R., Pellis, S. M., & McDonald, R. J. (2026) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1111/ejn.70426 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Playful attacks were scored when the snout of one rat was in contact with, or was directed toward, the nape of another rat (Pellis, Pellis, Burke, et al. 2022).”
InfluentialSelf-citationHam, J. R., Iwaniuk, A. N., & Pellis, S. M. (2026) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2026.116198 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationEvaluating the play fighting of rats: A sociological perspective
Ham, J. R., Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., & Achterberg, E. J. M. (2026) · Journal of Neuroscience Methods · doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2026.110836
Self-citation
- Authors
- Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., Burke, C. J., Stark, R. A., Ham, J. R., Euston, D. R., & Achterberg, E. J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Lethbridge (CA)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Venue
- Current Protocols
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e337-e337
- ISSN
- 2691-1299 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4206103937
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 6.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Protocols (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- play fighting, rough-and-tumble play, rats, behavioral scoring, social behavior, competition and cooperation, social development (developmental psychology), measurement framework
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Social Behavior, Rats
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