Attractivity and social preferences in mice (Mus musculus domesticus): the role of prepubertal sexual segregation and of precocious weaning.
Mice (Mus musculus domesticus) were raised (Postnatal Day 15 to 25) in single- or mixed-sex litters and precociously (Day 15) or regularly (Day 25) weaned. When they were faced as adults with a basic social choice--between two stimulus mice raised in litters of different sex composition but both of the same sex as the chooser--mice raised in mixed-sex litters were preferred. In the sociosexual choice-between a male and a female, both from the single- or the mixed-sex group--the opposite-sex preference was expressed. Both these preferences were abolished by the sexual segregation of the choosers. This variable hardly affected potential mate choice--between two stimulus mice both of the opposite sex of the chooser but raised in litters of different sex composition. Data indicate that socially mediated behavioral plasticity has a major role in the early shaping of adult individual differences both in attractive stimulus properties and in sociosexual preferences.
Terranova
M L
ML
Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
Loggi
G
G
Chiarotti
F
F
Laviola
G
G
D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000523:psychology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D012931:Social Environment; D014886:Weaning