Premium
Partner Preference Development in Female Prairie Voles Is Facilitated by Mating or the Central Infusion of Oxytocin a
Author(s) -
WILLIAMS JESSIE R.,
CARTER C. SUE,
INSEL THOMAS
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1992.tb34393.x
Subject(s) - cohabitation , preference , mating , oxytocin , psychology , developmental psychology , priming (agriculture) , biology , social psychology , demography , zoology , endocrinology , geography , economics , botany , germination , archaeology , sociology , microeconomics
Results of these experiments indicate that females given at least 24 hours of cohabitation with a male develop a social preference for the familiar partner versus a stranger. Mating is not essential for the development of partner preferences, but clearly facilitates the onset of preferences. Females given six hours of cohabitation showed partner preferences only if they mated with the partner during cohabitation (Experiment 2) or if they received oxytocin (Experiment 3). Females that continued to mate during preference tests (Experiment 2, n = 4) mated exclusively with the partner. Oxytocin infusions, even in the absence of mating or estrogen priming, facilitated the development of partner preferences.