Instrumental and consummatory measures of sexual capacity in the male rat.
- 1 January 1956
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology
- Vol. 49 (4) , 328-333
- https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088003
Abstract
Male rats were trained to secure a sexually receptive female by pressing a lever. Two problems were investigated: (1) "relationship between length of time allowed for recovery from sexual exhaustion and amount of sexual behavior necessary to produce a second exhaustion," and (2) relationship between instrumental responses leading to sexual opportunities and subsequent sexual performance. Recovery varied directly with time following previous sexual exhaustion. Bar-pressing rate was not sensitive indicator of motivational strength after differing periods of recovery, but does differentiate reliably between sexual performances of different animals. Bar-pressing rate is higher when ejaculation is imminent, but varies inversely with number of copulations preceding ejaculation.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Temporal relationships in the copulatory acts of adult male rats.Journal of Comparative Psychology, 1940