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Effects of social conditions during adolescence on courtship and aggressive behavior are not abolished by adult social experience
Author(s) -
Ruploh Tim,
Henning Miriam,
Bischof HansJoachim,
von Engelhardt Nikolaus
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21262
Subject(s) - courtship , psychology , developmental psychology , early adulthood , aggression , young adult , zoology , biology
ABSTRACT Social experience during adolescence has long‐lasting consequences for adult social behavior in many species. In zebra finches, individuals reared in pairs during adolescence start to court females faster, sing more courtship motifs to females and are more aggressive compared with group‐reared males. We investigated whether such differences are stable during adulthood or can be abolished by novel social experience after adolescence by giving all birds extensive experience with group life during adulthood. Courtship and aggressiveness increased in all males, but pair‐reared males still had a higher motif rate and were more aggressive than group‐reared males. Males no longer differed in courtship latency. In addition to the stable treatment differences, individual differences in behavior remained stable over time. Our results show that differences in behavior acquired during adolescence are preserved into adulthood, although adults still change their social behavior. Adolescence can thus be seen as a sensitive period during which social conditions have a lasting effect on adult behavior. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc . Dev Psychobiol 57: 73–82, 2015.