Stern J M, Mackinnon D A
Dev Psychobiol. 1978 Nov;11(6):579-86. doi: 10.1002/dev.420110607.
Maternal behavior (retrieving, crouching, and licking) was induced in Sprague-Dawley virgin female rats by constant exposure to pups aged 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, or 15-16 days. The incidence of spontaneous components of maternal behavior, notably retrieving, was greater towards pups 1-8 days of age than towards older pups, whereas the occurrence of cannibalism did not differ as a function of pup age. With pups 1-2 through 13-14 days, the latency to onset of full maternal behavior was shortest with 1-2-day-old pups (2-day median) and longest with 13-14-day-old pups (7-day median). Females exposed to pups aged 3-4 through 11-12 days did not differ significantly in their latencies, the medians of which ranged from 4.0 to 5.5 days. Only 1 female out of 8 exposed to pups aged 15-16 days became fully maternal, but 5 more displayed components of maternal responsiveness. The optimal nature of neonates and the general attractiveness of a wider range of pup ages as stimuli for the elicitation of maternal behavior in rats, as well as comparisons to mice and hamsters, were discussed.
通过持续接触1 - 2日龄、3 - 4日龄、5 - 6日龄、7 - 8日龄、9 - 10日龄、11 - 12日龄、13 - 14日龄或15 - 16日龄的幼崽，在斯普拉格 - 道利成年未孕雌性大鼠中诱导出母性行为（找回幼崽、蹲伏和舔舐）。母性行为的自发成分，尤其是找回幼崽的行为，在针对1 - 8日龄幼崽时比针对较大幼崽时更为常见，而同类相食的发生率并不因幼崽年龄而异。对于1 - 2日龄至13 - 14日龄的幼崽，完全母性行为开始的潜伏期在接触1 - 2日龄幼崽时最短（中位数为2天），在接触13 - 14日龄幼崽时最长（中位数为7天）。接触3 - 4日龄至11 - 12日龄幼崽的雌性在潜伏期方面没有显著差异，其潜伏期中位数在4.0至5.5天之间。在接触15 - 16日龄幼崽的8只雌性中，只有1只完全表现出母性行为，但另外5只表现出了母性反应的成分。文中讨论了新生幼崽的最佳特性以及更广泛年龄范围的幼崽作为诱导大鼠母性行为刺激物的总体吸引力，还与小鼠和仓鼠进行了比较。
