CentralNotice Behavioral sink From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search The ethologist John B. Calhoun coined the term " behavioral sink " to describe the collapse in behavior which resulted from overcrowding. Over a number of years, Calhoun conducted over-population experiments on rats [ 1 ] which culminated in 1962 with the publication of an article in the Scientific American of a study of behavior under conditions of overcrowding . [ 2 ] In it, Calhoun coined the term " behavioral sink ". Calhoun's work became used as an animal model of societal collapse , and his study has become a touchstone of urban sociology and psychology in general. [ 3 ] In it, Calhoun described the behavior as follows: “ Many [female rats] were unable to carry pregnancy to full term or to survive delivery of their litters if they did. An even greater number, afte...