Role of previous experience in the male rat's reaction to odors from group and alien conspecifics.

Observed male Long-Evans rats which had cohabited with ovariectomized females for 40 days for their reactions toward the odors from group vs. alien conspecifics. Under conditions where males were kept naive by not rendering their group females receptive, males preferred the odors from group males and females to those of aliens. Under conditions where males were permitted sexual experience, males failed to respond preferentially between group and alien males, and between both receptive and nonreceptive group and alien females. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)