Premium
Ontogeny of “aberrant” responses in the mating pattern of male guinea pigs
Author(s) -
Harper Lawrence V.
Publication year - 1973
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.420060404
Subject(s) - biology , stimulus (psychology) , mating , ontogeny , context (archaeology) , social isolation , adult male , isolation (microbiology) , developmental psychology , zoology , psychology , genetics , cognitive psychology , endocrinology , bioinformatics , paleontology , psychotherapist
Analysis of the behavioral development of 64 socially‐reared guinea pigs revealed that the head‐shaking which frequently in trudes into the mating pattern of adult isolation‐reared males is a common response among young animals. The behavioral context in which young socially‐reared animals typically display head‐shaking includes the pre‐copulatory hip‐sway‐purring display and running (pursuit). The aberrant behavior of adult isolation‐reared males may stem from a post‐isolation “stimulus overload” which causes the mating pattern to get sidetracked into another pattern with which it shares common elements.