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Studies of undernutrition in the young rat: Methodological considerations
Author(s) -
Plaut S. Michael
Publication year - 1970
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.420030303
Subject(s) - malnutrition , maternal deprivation , litter , weaning , developmental psychology , psychology , social deprivation , biology , medicine , endocrinology , ecology , political science , law
Three techniques are generally described as creating a state of undernutrition in the young rat: large litter size, periodic mother‐litter separation, and early weaning. Evidence from studies of maternal behavior and early experience suggests that many of the effects seen in „nutritional deprivation” experiments may be due, in part, to the social, thermal and sensory deprivation coincident with maternal deprivation, or to other factors (such as handling) which are often confounded with maternal deprivation. These other variables must be systematically accounted for before assumptions can be made about the effects of undernutrition per se.