| Abstract: | Investigated nipple attachment in 49 Purdue-Wistar laboratory rat pups during the 1st 24 hrs of life and identified determinants that influenced its expression. In Exp I, nipple attachment was shown to be age dependent: 1-hr-old pups exhibited a low percentage of attachment, and 12- and 24-hr-old pups exhibited high percentages when tested against an anesthetized lactator. Exps II–VI established the time course of nipple attachment as age related. Exps VII–X explored the behavioral mechanism responsible for the increase in attachment from Hr 1 to Hr 12. They showed that nipple experience, independent of milk acquisition, was the responsible factor for the increase. The findings suggest that learning is employed as a behavioral strategy by the newborn, and they reemphasize the value of using species-relevant measures in the assessment of behavioral development. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
