Year: 1992
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: In a study by Azrin et al. (1966), it was found that pigeons attacked other pigeons when the transition from a food reinforcement schedule to an extinction schedule was employed. These aggressive behaviors that appear due to the implementation of an extinction schedule, however, has not been widely studied in the laboratory rat. Examples of the types of phenomena that have been given attention with regard to laboratory rat aggression are male aggression in a mixed-sex colony toward male intruders, attack elicited by the application of aversive stimuli, and female-elicited aggressIOn of male rats living in colonies. The expression of aggressIve behaviors in rats appears to be highly responsive to developmental, experiential, and contextual variables. The present study focuses upon aggression displayed toward two characteristically different objects--one a stuffed rat and the other a wood block--when an extinction schedule is employed with laboratory rats. By using an extinction paradigm with rats bar pressing for food, the present study examines aggression in this context by measuring the intensity and type of aggressive behavior displayed toward the two different objects as well as looking at other behaviors elicited by an extinction schedule. 3 Aggressive Behaviors Review of Literature Aggression in the laboratory rat has been studied extensively in a wide variety of contexts. Particularly, there have been a number of studies that focus on what situations produce or elicit aggressive behaviors in the laboratory rat (see Lore, Nikoletseas, & Takahashi, 1984 for review). One of the most effective procedures developed to study aggression in the laboratory rat is the examination of behavioral responses of established colonies of domesticated rats to the presence of an unfamiliar intruder of the same specIes (Barnett, 1960; Blanchard et aI., 1975). This procedure has been the basis for studying other aspects of aggression in the rat such as aggressive acts elicited by male intruders in mixed-sex colonies (effects of the sex of the rat), aggression due to the application of an aversive stimulus (Ulrich and Azrin, 1962), and aggression as a result of an extinction procedure (Azrin et aI., 1966). Other studies have focused upon factors influencing aggression such as the presence of females in a colony (cohabitation) (Barnett, 1958; Barnett et aI., 1968; Thor and Flannelly, 1976), competitive experience (Albert et aI., 1989), and the manipulation of the rat's food supply (Lore et aI., 1986). These studies and their relevance to the present study are discussed in detail below. As described earlier, it has been found that male aggression is often elicited when a male intruder is introduced to male rats in a mixed-sex colony. This phenomenon has been studied in both wild
Authors: Amy K. Rajala, Faculty Advisor Dougan
Institution: Illinois Wesleyan University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1518422850