Next, the researchers trapped the robots in cages and gave the rats the opportunity to release them by pressing a lever.

接下来，研究人员将机器鼠困在笼子里，让老鼠有机会通过按下杠杆释放机器人。

When the first group realised that, they stopped pressing the lever, depriving themselves of food.

当第一组意识到这一点时，他们停止按下操纵杆，并剥夺了自己的食物。

What you saw was the assistant bomb-thrower pressing down the lever on the phoney smoke-bomb and, of course, they both went up together.

你看到的是投掷炸弹的助手按下了假烟雾弹上的控制杆，当然，他们一起上去了。

As long ago as 1959, Russell Church of Brown University set up a test which allowed laboratory rats in half of a cage to get food by pressing a lever.

早在1959年，布朗大学的Russell Church就进行了一项测试，让半个笼子里的实验室老鼠通过按下杠杆来获取食物。

So, what they do is, the first time they might scratch at the bars, push at the ceiling, dig at the floor, howl, etc., etc. And one of their behaviors is pressing the lever.

所以，他们所做的是，他们第一次可能会在酒吧里抓挠，推天花板，挖地板，嚎叫等等。他们的行为之一就是按下杠杆。