"A General Behavioral Syndrome Associated with Persistent Failure to Mate in the Male Laboratory Rat": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by Jessica J. G. Pottier and Dan Baran (Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology) 1973[Jun], 88[3], 499-509). The values given in Table 1 on p. 501 for "Chamber exploration" under "Test 4" and "Test 5" should have been shown as significant at the p 1974-00676-001.) Tested 31 male hooded rats in 7 experiments to determine if those rats which persistently fail to mate (noncopulators) suffer from a specific deficit in sexual behavior or if they show a general behavioral syndrome which distinguishes them from males which mate readily (copulators). Relative to copulators, noncopulators were less active and less responsive to novel stimuli and displayed slower habituation to novelty. Behavioral differences were not correlated with indices of emotionality, state of health, or early rearing conditions. Results are interpreted in terms of a difference in general arousability between copulators and noncopulators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lead toxicosis in a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) consequent to ingestion of air gun pellets

Male rats of the Wistar strain were selected as good copulators (displaying at least 1 ejaculation in each of three consecutive tests for male sexual behavior) and sexually sluggish animals (displaying no ejaculations in each of three consecutive tests). The administration of low doses (1 and 2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) of kainic acid in sexually sluggish rats induced an enhancement of some parameters of copulatory behavior. In particular, significant reductions in latency to the first mount and intromission and increases in frequency of mounts and intromissions were observed. In contrast, the drug failed to exert any effect in good copulators. At the dose of 5 mg/kg (i.p.) kainic acid exerted an inhibitory effect on sexual behavior parameters both in good copulators and in sluggish rats. A persistent increase in latency to the first mount, intromission and ejaculation, and reduction in frequency of mounts, intromissions and ejaculation both in good copulators and in sluggish rats were observed 20 days after kainic acid treatment at the higher dose. No persistent effect of kainic acid 1 and 2.5 mg/kg was observed 20 days after treatment. These results suggest that kainic acid may affect in a dose-dependent manner several copulatory parameters of male sexual behavior repertoire. The bimodal effects could be explained considering a possible interaction of kainic acid with different neurotransmissions or receptor subtypes.     

Olfactory recognition of conspecifics by domestic Norway rats

In order to learn more about their ability to recognize one another via olfaction, domestic male rats were given a series of preference tests in which pairs of odors from male conspecifics were presented. Both immature and mature males prefer (p less than .05) the odor from immature strangers over that from immature cage mates but are indifferent to the ordors from mature strangers versus cage mates. Both immature and mature males prefer (p less than .05) the odor from mature novel cage mates over that from mature cage mates to which they are temporarily habituated but are indifferent to the odors from immature novel versus familial cage mates. Mature males prefer (p less than .08) the odor from a cage mate over the subject's own odor, and they prefer (p less than .01) their own odor over no odor. Under certain conditions, male rats can discriminate between the odors from (a) strangers versus cage mates, (b) two cage mates, and (c) their own body versus a cage mate.     

Multiple pathways to compliance: Mothers' willingness to cooperate and knowledge of their children's reactions to discipline.

Mothers of 59 children with ages from 6 to 9 years were assessed for their general willingness to cooperate with their children's desires and their accurate predictions of their children's evaluations of different discipline strategies. Mothers asked their children to clean up a playroom in their absence, with some children protesting and others not protesting. Results showed that maternal willing cooperation predicted children's compliance in the absence but not in the presence of protest. Conversely, maternal accuracy concerning their children's evaluations of discipline facilitated children's compliance in dyads in which children expressed initial resistance but not if children indicated no opposition. Mothers' responsive reactions to protest mediated between maternal accuracy and children's ultimate compliance. Results indicate that specific features of parenting facilitate compliance in specific situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manipulation for the treatment of occupational low back pain

Female colour polymorphism is a perplexing characteristic of many damselfly species. In Ischnura elegans three female phenotypes occur, one of which has the same blue coloration as the male (androchromes) whilst the others are inconspicuous brown gynochromes (infuscans and infuscans-obsoleta morphs). By marking a natural population near Rome, Italy, we found that all female phenotypes have similar survivorship, but they differ in mating frequency. Androchromes represented 55% of females but were involved in 43% of matings, whereas infuscans females represented 27% of females and 40% of matings and the infuscans-obsoleta phenotype 18% of females and 17% of matings. Old androchromes stored significantly less sperm in their spermatheca than old gynochromes, suggesting that they had mated less often. The majority of mature androchromes were observed alone (54%) when the majority of gynochromes (82-84%) were mating. When live tethered conspecifics were presented to males, blue models (male and androchrome female) were less attractive than brown models (gynochrome females). In contrast, all female colour morphs and males were equally (highly) attractive to males when the models were dead. Androchromes were significantly larger than gynochromes. Our results indicate that androchrome females mate less often than gynochromes, which could be a means of avoiding unnecessary and costly matings, but some androchrome females failed to reproduce (mate or oviposit) probably because they were unable to mate at all. The different explanations for the maintenance of this polymorphism in I. elegans are discussed. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.     

Preferences in human mate selection.

Examined the consequences of mate preferences for the processes of assortative mating and sexual selection. In Study 1, 92 married couples (aged 18–40 yrs) completed measures such as the California Psychological Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Data were used to identify (a) the mate characteristics that were consensually more and less desired, (b) the mate characteristics that showed strong sex differences in their preferred value, (c) the degree to which married couples were correlated in selection preferences, and (d) the relations between expressed preferences and the personality and background characteristics of obtained spouses. Marital preference factors included Religious, Kind/Considerate, Artistic/Intelligent, and Easygoing/Adaptable. Study 2, with 100 unmarried undergraduates, replicated the sex differences and consensual ordering of mate preferences found in Study 1, using a different methodology. Alternative hypotheses are presented to account for the replicated sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and earning potential. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A diallel cross analysis of genetic determinants of copulatory behavior in rats.

Conducted a diallel cross analysis aimed at obtaining information regarding genetic influences on the copulatory behavior of rats, and permitting considerations of adaptive significance. A total of 1,073 rats of 4 inbred strains-ACI, F344, LEW, and WF-and all possible F1 crosses were used. Of 385 males tested, 73 failed to mate. The F1 Ss were more likely to mate than were Ss with inbred genotypes. Overdominance was generally apparent for low frequencies of mounts and intromissions preceding ejaculation across 5 series and 3 tests. A trend for directional dominance toward low scores on various latency measures of copulatory behavior also was apparent. According to the theory relating directional dominance to adaptation, it would appear generally adaptive for rats to copulate rapidly and to ejaculate after relatively few mounts and intromissions. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meditations on the hunt: A reexamination of the issue of choice in the process of mate selection and its implications for psychotherapy.

Describes choice in mate selection as derived less from underlying psychodynamic factors and more from what is available in the marketplace. The factors (biographical, personality, and selectivity) that reduce choice in mate selection are examined. The implications of the availability model on mate selection and psychotherapy with the nonmarried are discussed. It is contended that the choice becomes less a statement of the unconscious and conscious needs of the S and more a reflection of the state of the marketplace. It is suggested that availablity factors be explored in therapy before factors within the individual are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mate selection preferences: Gender differences examined in a national sample.

Social psychologists have devoted considerable theoretical and empirical attention to studying gender differences in traits desired in a mate. Most of the studies on mate preferences, however, have been conducted with small, nonrepresentative samples. In this study, we analyzed data collected from single adults in a national probability sample, the National Survey of Families and Households. Respondents were asked to consider 12 possible assets or liabilities in a marriage partner and to indicate their willingness to marry someone possessing each of these traits. These data extended previous research by comparing men's and women's mate preferences in a heterogeneous sample of the national population and by comparing gender differences in different sociodemographic groups. The gender differences found in this study were consistent with those secured in previous research (e.g., youth and physical attractiveness were found to be more important for men than for women; earning potential was found to be less important for men than for women) and were quite consistent across age groups and races. However, the various sociodemographic groups differed slightly in the magnitude of gender differences for some of the mate preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual recognition and incest avoidance in eusocial common mole-rats rather than reproductive suppression by parents

Non-reproductive females in families of eusocial common mole-rats (Cryptomys sp., Rodentia) are not suppressed by their mother, (either behaviourally or pheromonally) as is generally assumed. They do not mate with their father and brothers simply because they are not sexually attractive for them (and vice versa). The incest avoidance is based on the capability to recognize (and keep in memory for up to three weeks) each family member individually. A 'sterile' daughter may conceive and deliver young in her parental family if given the opportunity to mate with an unfamiliar mate in a separate cage. In this way, two females may breed side by side in one family.     

Breeding context and response to song playback in mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos).

Northern mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) sing more during nest building than at any other time in the breeding cycle. Playback tests in which the songs of nest-building and unmated males were played to mated males during incubation and nest building were conducted to determine if nest-building song is a mate guarding signal. Analyses indicated no greater aggressive response to song during nest building versus incubation in mated males. Singing itself was never evoked by song playback, and neither mated nor unmated males responded differently to songs produced by unmated versus nest-building males. The aggressive responses of unmated males were greater than those of mated males nest building without offspring, and males nest building with older offspring present responded as much as unmated males and more than males nest building without offspring. Aggressive response to song playback in once-mated males, whose mates disappeared during the breeding season, did not change as much as two months after disappearance of the mate. Nonetheless, ambient song production increased significantly above that apparent in the same birds when mated. These experiments indicate that aggressive reaction to song playback fluctuates across breeding contexts but not as predicted by the use of song as a mate guarding signal and not in a manner that parallels natural fluctuations in song production. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female preference for swords in Xiphophorus helleri reflects a bias for large apparent size

Swordtail fish (Poeciliidae: genus Xiphophorus) are a paradigmatic case of sexual selection by sensory exploitation. Female preference for males with a conspicuous "sword" ornament is ancestral, suggesting that male morphology has evolved in response to a preexisting bias. The perceptual mechanisms underlying female mate choice have not been identified, complicating efforts to understand the selection pressures acting on ornament design. We consider two alternative models of receiver behavior, each consistent with previous results. Females could respond either to specific characteristics of the sword or to more general cues, such as the apparent size of potential mates. We showed female swordtails a series of computer-altered video sequences depicting a courting male. Footage of an intact male was preferred strongly to otherwise identical sequences in which portions of the sword had been deleted selectively, but a disembodied courting sword was less attractive than an intact male. There was no difference between responses to an isolated sword and to a swordless male of comparable length, or between an isolated sword and a homogenous background. Female preference for a sworded male was abolished by enlarging the image of a swordless male to compensate for the reduction in length caused by removing the ornament. This pattern of results is consistent with mate choice being mediated by a general preference for large males rather than by specific characters. Similar processes may account for the evolution of exaggerated traits in other systems.     

Social or evolutionary theories? Some observations on preferences in human mate selection.

In this article, we extend the research by Buss and Barnes (1986) on preferences in human mate selection. Buss and Barnes explored human mate preferences by identifying major dimensions of preferences, sex differences in selection preferences, and the relations between mate preferences and characteristics of obtained partners. To examine these questions, Buss and Barnes studied two heterosexual samples. In discussing their findings, they specified two general theoretical orientations to understanding human mate preferences, the first based on social factors and the second based on principles of evolutionary biology. The relative adequacy of these two perspectives was not evaluated because as Buss and Barnes noted, the two sets of hypotheses are not inherently incompatible. In this extension of their research, we examine mate preferences in samples of both heterosexual and homosexual couples, using variation in sexual orientation to evaluate further the adequacy of social and evolutionary theories in explaining human mate preferences. Although some aspects of partner preferences are consistent with both theoretical orientations, we demonstrate that other patterns are explained more adequately by a social perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gap detection deficits in rats with tinnitus: A potential novel screening tool.

The study describes a novel method for tinnitus screening in rats by use of gap detection reflex procedures. The authors hypothesized that if a background acoustic signal was qualitatively similar to the rat's tinnitus, poorer detection of a silent gap in the background would be expected. Rats with prior evidence of tinnitus at 10 kHz (n = 14) exhibited significantly worse gap detection than controls (n = 13) when the gap was embedded in a background similar to their tinnitus. No differences between tinnitus and control rats were found with 16 kHz or broadband noise backgrounds, which helped to rule out explanations related to hearing loss or general performance deficits. The results suggest that gap detection reflex procedures might be effective for rapid tinnitus screening in rats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sperm competition games: a prospective analysis of risk assessment

We develop the logic of assessment of sperm competition risk by individual males where the mechanism of sperm competition follows a 'loaded raffle' (first and second inseminates of a female have unequal prospects). Male roles (first or second to mate) are determined randomly. In model 1, males have no information about the risk associated with individual females and ejaculation strategy depends only on the probability, q, that females mate twice. Evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) ejaculate expenditure increases linearly from zero with q, and reduces with increasing inequality between ejaculates, though the direction of the loading (which role is favoured) is unimportant. In model 2, males have perfect information and can identify each of three risk states: females that will (1) mate just once ('no risk'), (2) mate twice but have not yet mated ('future risk'), and (3) mate twice and have already mated ('past risk'). The ESS is to ejaculate minimally with 'no risk' females, and to expand equally with 'past' and 'future' risk females; the direction of the competitive loading is again unimportant. Expenditure again increases with risk, but is now non-zero at extremely low risk. Model 3 examines three cases of partial information where males can identify only one of the three risk states and cannot distinguish between the other two: they therefore have just two information sets or 'contexts'. Expenditure in both contexts typically rises non-linearly from zero with q, but (whatever the loading direction) expenditure is higher in the context with higher risk (e.g. if contexts are 'mated' and 'virgin', males spend more with mated females). However, in highly loaded raffles, sperm expenditure can decrease over part of the range of risk. Also, the direction of the loading now affects expenditure. Biological evidence for the predictions of the models is summarized and discussed.     

Differential effects of mate competition and mate choice on eastern tiger salamanders

Male tiger salamanders, Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinumare slightly larger in body size and have considerably higher and longer tails than females. To determine how these dimorphic traits affected reproductive performance and success, we conducted breeding trials using 12 males and six females per trial and monitored male-female and male-male interactions. Larger males had an advantage in most aspects of mate competition investigated. Males with higher tails had no advantage in either mate competition or mate choice. Males with longer tails also had no advantage in mate competition but were preferred as mates by females. Larger males interrupted courting males more often than smaller males did. The form of male-male interference was conditional on body size and not on either tail dimension. If the intruder was larger than the courting male, it would shove the female away from the courting male and initiate courtship; if the intruder was smaller, it adopted a female mimicry tactic in which it positioned itself between the courting male and female and performed female behaviours to the courting male while simultaneously courting the female. Our trials indicated that the two components of sexual selection may influence the evolution of different male morphological traits in tiger salamanders. Mate competition may favour increased male body length; mate choice may select for greater male tail length.     

Runaway ornament diversity caused by Fisherian sexual selection

Fisher's runaway process of sexual selection is potentially an important force generating character divergence between closely related populations. We investigated the evolution of multiple female preferences by Fisher's runaway process. There are two outcomes of runaway. The first is the evolution of mate preference to a stable equilibrium. This evolution occurs if the benefits of mate choice are sufficiently large relative to the cost of choice. Alternatively, mate preferences evolve cyclically. The rate and pattern of cyclic evolution depends primarily on the individual cost of choice and epistasis in the joint cost of choice. If there are small differences in natural selection (e.g., predation risk) between populations, cyclic evolution quickly leads to divergence in mate preferences and sexual ornaments and so to sexual isolation.     

Gender differences in mate selection preferences: A test of the parental investment model.

Evolutionary-related hypotheses about gender differences in mate selection preferences were derived from R. Trivers's (1979, 1985) parental investment model, which contends that women are more likely than men to seek a mate who possesses nonphysical characteristics that maximize the survival or reproductive prospects of their offspring, and were examined in a meta-analysis of mate selection research (questionnaire studies, analyses of personal advertisements). As predicted, women accorded more weight than men to socioeconomic status (SES), ambitiousness, character, and intelligence, and the largest gender differences were observed for cues to resource acquisition (status, ambitiousness). Also as predicted, gender differences were not found in preferences for characteristics unrelated to progeny survival (sense of humor, "personality"). Where valid comparisons could be made, the findings were generally invariant across generations, cultures, and research paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decremental carryover effects of sucrose ingestion in the negative anticipatory contrast procedure in rats.

To test for retrospective effects of sucrose ingestion in the anticipatory contrast procedure, 4 experiments examined intake of an initial 0.15% saccharin solution as a function of the unsignaled interspersing of days in which the 2nd solution was 32% sucrose or 0.15% saccharin. In Experiment 1, rats that received alternating saccharin-saccharin days and saccharin-sucrose days drank less saccharin on saccharin-only days, and on both days they drank less saccharin than a control group that received saccharin only. In Experiment 2, rats that received randomized saccharin-saccharin and saccharin-sucrose days drank less saccharin if, and only if, a sucrose day preceded. Experiments 3 and 4 used double and quadruple alternation of saccharin and sucrose days to examine persistence of the effects of a sucrose day. The results highlighted a retrospective carryover effect of sucrose that reduced intake of the initial saccharin solution and apparently was based on sucrose memories persisting over days. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of approximate formula for LDL-chol, LDL-apo B and LDL-chol/LDL-apo B as indices of hyperapobetalipoproteinemia and small dense LDL

The adaptive significance of repeated withinpair copulations is not well understood. We analysed the copulatory behaviour of 16 pairs of solitary-nesting American kestrels, Falco sparverius, in southern Quebec (Canada), and the achieved reproductive success (paternity) of 21 kestrel families determined by DNA fingerprinting, in terms of four hypotheses. (1) The paternity assurance hypothesis, which suggests that males copulate frequently to avoid being cuckolded, was rejected because there were few extrapair copulation attempts (<1% of all copulations observed), withinpair copulations were not timed during the fertile period and mate attendance did not increase as the fertile period approached. (2) The immediate material benefits hypothesis, which suggests that females trade copulations for food, was refuted because copulations most often occurred without food transfers, especially outside the fertile period. (3) The female mate guarding of males hypothesis, which suggests that females distract their mates from other mating opportunities by copulating frequently, was rejected because extrapair copulation attempts were infrequent, male and female solicitation frequencies were similar and females did not differ in the timing or frequency of solicitations. (4) The mate assessment hypothesis, which suggests that assessment of mate quality is mediated via copulation, most closely predicted the behaviour observed since withinpair copulations were frequent outside the fertile period and at pair formation, males and females solicited similar numbers of copulations and pairs did not differ significantly in solicitation or copulation frequency. In line with this hypothesis we found that only one brood was extrapair, probably the result of mate replacement.Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour