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Tiffany McIntosh
4/26/15
Psychology 211
Maureen Donegan
Crowding Into the Behavioral Sink
John B. Calhoun conducted a laboratory observation in 1962 that
tested the effects of population density and social crowding. A famous
psychologist, John B. Watson, introduced the world to the science of
behavior or also known as behaviorism. Watson was a firm believer on
The only way to refocus on psychology was to resort to observational
behaviorism (Ciccarelli 2012). With this experiment dealing with
population density and having a number of individuals in a given
amount of space these two went hand in hand. Calhoun was also
interested in human behavior, which brought the question of whether
the stress of social interaction could alter behavior.
To answer his questions Calhoun conducted three tests with forty
rats. They were placed in a laboratory room that was 10ft x 14ft wide.
These rooms had a glass ceiling that was used for observation (Hock
2013). The room was divided into four different sections with paths
that led to each one. Section 1 led to section 2, sections 2 led to 3, and
3 led to section 4. This was so the rats could freely roam in these
different sections. But there was a catch; the rats couldnt cross
between sections 4 to sections 1. In these sections there was food,

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water and plenty of things used for nesting. During this 16 month test
Calhoun allowed the rats to multiply to about 80 rats.
While the rats were observed for these 16 months, Calhoun
observed four extreme pathological behaviors including: reproductive
abnormalities, sexual deviants, submissiveness, and aggression.
Aggression was shown when the male rats were fighting for the
dominant social role. Submissiveness was exampled by the rats that
were avoiding fights, sexual activity, and were avoided all around by
the rats. These rats were also the healthiest looking. As for the sexual
deviant and hypersexual, they were not interested in any status, but
the sexual deviant would want to mate with any rat in the sections.
When this experiment was first conducted researchers thought that
this number of rats would be able to live comfortably in four sections.
They estimated about twenty rats in a section but they were wrong.
The males had to fight for social status and the winner would earn
sections 1 and 4 because there was only one way in them. Because of
this fight club it caused over crowding in sections 2 and 3. These
abnormalities that were previously discussed were phenomenons that
Calhoun discovered are called the behavioral sink (Ramsden 2009)
The natural social and survival behaviors of the rats were
severely altered by the stresses associated with living in a highpopulation-density environment. In addition, he noted that
through additional research, with improved methods and refined

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interpretation of the findings, his studies and other like them
may contribute to our understanding of similar issues facing
human beings (Hock 2013).
To explain this quote Calhoun didnt conclude anything from his
16-month experiment. He found the rats to be self-explanatory,
meaning that its natural for these rats to have the effect they did while
under population density.
There was a study done by The National Institute of Justice who
found higher rates of illness, mortality, suicide, homicide, and so on.
These rates were found in prisons that were very crowded (Hock 2013).
A more recent, and realistic study was done as well. New York City had
a Skyscraper competition and continuous population and Calhouns
experiment was brought up. They compared the life style of a New
Yorker to the rats, like in the section experiment. Another known
Psychologist, Jonathan Freedman who was cited in this source as well,
did one of his own experiments just like Calhouns. He came to the
conclusion that crowding experiments with people found that a range
of social and psychological variables, such as individuals desired level
of privacy, ability to control a situation, or their social role, could cause
stress and feeling of crowding (LaCasse 2015).
In conclusion, social crowdedness can affect ones behavior,
especially one to a New Yorker like in the experiment. Calhoun believes
that humans will just run out of space due to building and producing so

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fast which I believe him. Countries are becoming over-populated and
more buildings are being added. Pretty soon all we will see are people
and buildings. We wont see nature or wildlife because it will be taken
over. This research that Calhoun did opened my eyes for the better.
Thinking about how the rats reacted to over crowdedness makes me
think if humans would do the same if in that situation in real life. I
know that when Im over crowded, or feel that way, I have a mood
change just like the rats. I really enjoyed this reading and it made me
think.

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Works Cited
Calhoun, J. (1970). Population Density and Social Pathology. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
Ciccarelli, S. (2012).Psychology. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Hock, R. (2013). Forty Studies That Changed Psychology. (6th Ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ:Pearson/Prentice Hall.
LaCasse, A. (2015). Should We Pack Everybody into A Giant Skyscraper? Retrieved
April 21, 2015.
Ramsden, E. (2009). The Urban Animal: Population Density and Social Pathology in
Rodents and Humans. Retrieved April 21, 2015.