Pacing of copulatory behavior in the male rat: Effects of receptive females and intermittent shocks.

Describes 2 experiments with 7 male hooded Long-Evans rats. In Exp I, Ss were tested with females continuously present and with the presence of the female after each sex act contingent upon a barpress. The sole effect of the barpress requirement was to increase the intervals between copulations before ejaculation. In Exp II, intermittent shocks were superimposed upon the conditions of Exp I. Shocks were followed with short latency by mounts in the ad-lib condition and by barpress and mounts in the operant condition. The pacing of copulatory acts before ejaculation is inferred to result from an interaction of stimuli from the female and feedback from the copulatory acts; after ejaculation, factors primarily endogenous to the male govern the timing of resumption of copulation. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)