Herzog H A, Bowers B B, Burghardt G M
Department of Psychology, Western Carolina University, Cullowheel 28723.
Dev Psychobiol. 1989 Jul;22(5):489-508. doi: 10.1002/dev.420220507.
Habituation of defensive attacks directed toward a threatening stimulus was investigated in neonatal garter snakes. The focus of the experiments was on differential effects of a simple experimental process in relation to species, litter, sex, and individual. In Experiment 1 newborn Thamnophis melanogaster from four liters and newborn Thamnophis butleri from three liters were given daily tests in which snakes were confronted with a nonmoving and moving human hand. Over five successive test days the T melanogaster neonates showed a decline in number of strikes directed toward the stimuli. When retested 10-13 days later the animals showed significant response recovery. Although some of the T? butleri newborns demonstrated significant habituation, there was no overall habituation of strike scores in this species. The T? melanogaster had high strike scores, more rapid habituation to moving than nonmoving stimuli, and significant liter differences in habituation rates. The T? melanogaster, but not the T? butleri neonates, showed significant habituation of flight responses over the five tests. In T? butleri, but not T? melanogaster, males were more prone to attack than were females. In both species there were large differences in both overall strike scores and habituation rates of individual newborn animals. In Experiment 2, T? melanogaster 2-months old, were tested for short-term habituation to either a moving or nonmoving stimulus for 10 successive tests on one day. Habituation of strikes was similar to both stimuli, but more animals confronted with the moving stimulus showed an initial increase in strikes, lending support to the dual-process theory of habituation. As in Experiment 1, there were large individual differences in habituation rates. The results are discussed in terms of the ecological and methodological implications for developmental studies.
对新生束带蛇针对威胁性刺激的防御性攻击的习惯化进行了研究。实验的重点是一个简单实验过程在物种、窝仔数、性别和个体方面的差异效应。在实验1中，对来自4窝的新生黑带束带蛇和来自3窝的新生巴氏束带蛇进行了每日测试，测试中让蛇面对静止和移动的人手。在连续5个测试日里，黑带束带蛇幼崽对刺激的攻击次数有所下降。10 - 13天后重新测试时，这些动物的反应显著恢复。虽然一些巴氏束带蛇新生儿表现出显著的习惯化，但该物种的攻击得分总体上没有习惯化。黑带束带蛇的攻击得分较高，对移动刺激的习惯化比对静止刺激更快，并且在习惯化速率上窝仔数存在显著差异。在5次测试中，黑带束带蛇幼崽而非巴氏束带蛇幼崽的逃跑反应表现出显著的习惯化。在巴氏束带蛇中，而非黑带束带蛇中，雄性比雌性更倾向于攻击。在这两个物种中，单个新生动物的总体攻击得分和习惯化速率都存在很大差异。在实验2中，对2个月大的黑带束带蛇在一天内进行了10次连续测试，以测试其对移动或静止刺激的短期习惯化。对两种刺激的攻击习惯化相似，但更多面对移动刺激的动物在攻击次数上最初有所增加，这支持了习惯化的双过程理论。与实验1一样，习惯化速率存在很大的个体差异。从发育研究的生态和方法学意义方面对结果进行了讨论。
