COPULATORY-BEHAVIOR OF DEER MICE (PEROMYSCUS-MANICULATUS) .2. A STUDY OF SOME FACTORS REGULATING THE FINE-STRUCTURE OF BEHAVIOR

In 7 experiments on factors regulating copulatory behavior in deer mice, changes in copulatory behavior across series within a test reflected changes in both male and female, with the male apparently predominant. Even when mating with females of a species with a very different copulatory pattern (cactus mice), male deer mice retained the species-typical pattern. Mating in a 2-male/1-female condition produced little alteration in copulatory behavior from that in the 1-male/1-female condition. Under some test conditions, levels of aggressive behavior in the 2-male/1-female condition was considerable. There was generally covariation among body weight, social dominance, and copulation, with heavier males being dominant and ejaculating more often than lighter males. When females were in hormone-induced estrus, mount and intromission latencies were longer and ejaculation frequencies were lower than with either cycling or postpartum estrus. Significant differences between cycling and postpartum estrus were detectable with a within-Ss design. Mate familiarity had little effect on parameters of copulatory behavior once initiated. Effects of both male and female were detected when mating partners were changed between tests and test-retest correlation coefficients were calculated. (67 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.