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Relationship between mousekilling and conspecific aggression in the male rat
Author(s) -
Depaulis Antoine,
Vergnes Marguerite
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/1098-2337(1983)9:3<259::aid-ab2480090307>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - offensive , aggression , psychology , intraspecific competition , poison control , correlation , positive correlation , developmental psychology , social psychology , ecology , medical emergency , biology , medicine , geometry , mathematics , management , economics
In order to investigate the relationships between mousekilling and conspecific aggression, behavioral variables of killer and nonkiller rats were compared in a “resident‐intruder” paradigm, in resident as well as in intruder animals. The occurrence of offensive items (offensive sideways, attack) was significantly higher in killer rats when they were residents; their corresponding opponents displayed more defensive behaviors. No significant difference in aggressive behaviors was noted when the comparison was done in the intruders. These results and those of previous studies suggest that there is a correlation between mousekilling and intraspecific offensive behaviors. Some similarities in the situations where both behaviors are elicited–eg, introduction of an unfamiliar intruder into a familiar environment–may contribute to the existence of such a correlation and the possibility of common mechanisms underlying both behaviors is discussed.