Regulation of social contact by the female rat during the postejaculatory interval

Mating behavior of male and estrous female rats was observed in a large cage through three ejaculatory series. Movement, 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, sexual behavior, and distance between animals were studied during the postejaculatory interval (PEI) to help establish how copulatory contact is maintained and reinitiated for successive ejaculations. Females moved more than males throughout the three series. The duration of vocalization by the male during the PEI increased in the presence of an experienced female. During the male’s vocalization, the rats exhibited a period of immobility that usually began with the experienced female’s terminating contact by moving away from the male and ended when the female reinitiated contact by moving toward the male. Virgin females did not show this pattern of movement. Experienced females maintained a greater distance from the male during the PEI than did virgin females. We conclude that the behavior of the experienced estrous female assures both considerable spatial separation during the male’s refractory period and the reinitiation of contact.     

The differential expression of male sexual behavior in the Lewis, Fischer and Sprague-Dawley rat strains

Several indices of sexual behavior were characterized for male rats of the Lewis (LEW), Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Fischer (F344) strains. Males were permitted access to a receptive female of their own strain for five 50-min sessions every fifth day. LEW males emitted longer latencies (first mount, intromission, ejaculation and post-ejaculatory interval) and lower frequencies (mounts, intromissions, ejaculations, intromission ratio) relative to F344 males, with the SD strain in general, lying intermediate. Following this assessment, males of each strain were randomly assigned to females of their own or another strain to ascertain whether differences were due to differential female receptivity. Although there were no significant differences during this phase indicative of differential receptivity, the sample size may preclude a definitive interpretation of such results. The data were discussed in the context of other behavioral differences between the strains and the possible neurobiological mechanisms underlying these differences.     

Determinants of ejaculatory failure in the copulatory behavior of cactus mice (Peromyscus eremicus)

Although cactus mice,Peromyscus eremicus, typically resume copulatory behavior soon after attaining their first ejaculation, they rarely attain additional ejaculations. Experiment I was designed to determine the relative contribution of the male and female to this phenomenon of “ejaculatory failure”—the failure to attain ejaculation despite initiation of a series. Each of 18 male and 18 female cactus mice was tested in three conditions: once with a mated male paired with an unmated female, once with an unmated male paired with a mated female, and once with the original pairing retained. Ejaculatory failure was found to be primarily attributable to changes in the male. In Experiment II, it was found that the inhibitory effects of the first series are largely, but not completely, dissipated after 24 h. The first ejaculatory series appears to produce an elevation of the male’s ejaculatory threshold.     

The effects of sex of speaker and listener on recall from a medical audiotape

Two studies are reported that examine the effects of the sex of the speaker and the sex of the listener on recall from a medical audiotape on multiple sclerosis. Previous research in other contexts has suggested that males might be more effective speakers than females, that males might be more effective listeners than females, and that there might be an interaction between the sex of the speaker and the sex of the listener so that male listeners might recall more from male speakers and female listeners might recall more from female ones.
Despite considerable differences between the two reported studies, the results from both were very similar. Both produced no evidence to support any of the above suggestions.     

Persistence of social investigatory behavior in the male rat: Evidence for long-term memory of initial copulatory experience

The duration of active social investigation by sexually mature male rats, following exposure to a novel conspecific, was investigated to assess the influence of former social experience. In Experiments 1 and 2, pretest social isolation of older males with extensive heterosexual experience and of younger males with limited heterosexual experience failed to affect their subsequent persistence in social investigation. Older and sexually experienced rats, however, engaged in significantly less investigatory behavior than did younger, sexually inexperienced males. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 demonstrated that this difference was associated with prior copulatory experience. A single copulatory series with either an intact female or a hormone-primed castrate female effected a significant and sustained decrease in social investigatory behavior. The results are interpreted as demonstrating a form of long-term memory for associations formed during initial copulatory experience.     

Avoidance of interspecific mating in female Syrian hamsters is stronger toward familiar than toward unfamiliar heterospecific males

Adult Syrian hamster females (Mesocricetus auratus) learn to discriminate against familiar heterospecific males (Turkish hamster, M. brandti). We investigated whether females learn to avoid any heterospecific male after exposure to just one heterospecific male. We predicted that, after being exposed to one heterospecific male, a female would avoid mating not only with that familiar male but also with any unfamiliar heterospecific male. We exposed females to a heterospecific male across a wire-mesh barrier for 8 days and then paired the female with (a) that same heterospecific male or (b) an unfamiliar heterospecific male. Females exhibited lordosis faster and for a longer duration toward the unfamiliar than toward the familiar heterospecific male. However, females were similarly aggressive toward familiar and unfamiliar heterospecific males. Perhaps exposure to stimuli from several heterospecific males (a likely scenario in the wild) would result in females behaving similarly toward familiar and unfamiliar heterospecific males.     

Resident rats’ aggression toward intruders

A study was performed in which attacks by four different types of “resident” rat (males housed with fertile females, males housed with sterile females, paired males, and isolated males) on six different types of intruder (isolated males, grouped males, castrated males, isolated females, grouped females, and ovariectomized females) were investigated. The objective was to study features of resident and intruder rats that would allow the designing of an aggression test that used a minimum of animals and produced a rapid behavioral response. In some combinations of residents and intruders, attack was generated within a 10-min test period. Isolated resident males attacked as much as males housed with females; however, paired rats showed only low incidences of attack. The fertility of the female partner did not influence the male’s aggressiveness. Most male attacks were directed towards like-sexed intruders. Only isolated males differentiated between the different treatment types of male intruder, attacking group-housed and castrated rats less intensely than isolates. Of the females, only those that were fertile produced significant amounts of attack behavior and almost exclusively attacked female intruders. Group-housed intruder females received more attacks than isolates. The results suggest optimal conditions for generating two models of attack behavior in the laboratory rat.     

Fearfulness in female and male cats

Cats were observed in four moderately frightening novel situations. One of 12 response measures indicated that females are more fearful than males, 1 indicated that males are more fearful than females, and the remaining 10 measures revealed no significant difference between males and females. The results thus yield no evidence of any large and consistent difference in fear between female and male cats. Gonadal hormones do not determine any single pattern of sex difference in fearfulness in different species of mammals. Species-specific patterns of social organization may predict sex differences in fear in studied species more accurately than endocrine factors.     

Influences of social isolation during development on sexual behavior of the rat

Male and female rats were weaned at 14 days of age and raised in social isolation or with three other animals. At maturity the male isolates displayed less male sexual behavior than the socially reared Ss. Female isolates, after ovariectomy and injection with androgen, exhibited much less male sexual behavior than control females similarly tested. After being brought into estrus by injections of estrogen and progesterone, the female sexual behavior of female social and isolate Ss did not differ. Data were interpreted as indicating that social isolation during development deprives rats of critical experiences necessary for development of appropriate responses to social stimuli eliciting male copulatory behavior in both sexes.     

Gender differences in attitudes towards learning oral skills using technology

This paper reports a quantitative study on gender differences in attitudes when learning oral skills via technology. The study was conducted at Tafila Technical University, Jordan, with 70 female and 30 male students, to find out if female students are better and faster in learning a language than male. Specifically, it seeks to investigate differences in attitudes between females and males in terms of practicality, confidence and anxiety. The results of the study show that there were no significant differences between female and male students when comparing the pre- and post-test mean scores. Both genders establish the same levels of attitudes before and after undergoing this course, which suggests that the exposure to language learning using technology did not contribute to any significant gender inequality. The paired sample t-test results showed improved attitudes toward learning oral skills in both females and males. The study also indicates female and male improvement in the anxiety dimension showing that their initial strong apprehension toward this course was greatly reduced at the end of the course. In terms of confidence, female showed better enhanced confidence level than male at the end of the course.     

Gender Differences on the Use of Amplifiers in Academic Writings

This study aims to investigate the use of amplifiers in term of gender and disciplinary groups in academic research arti cles,which is based on the British Academic Written English Corpus(BAWE).18 amplifiers were examined across two dimen sions:gender and disciplinary groups.The results show amplifiers are more common in males’ academic writings than in those of females in general,amplifiers are used more often in AH discipline.However,not all amplifiers show significant gender differ ences between men and women.Six words show a significant difference between male and female writers:pretty,by far,perfect ly,quite,a great deal,totally,which are used more often by males.However,the interesting is in LS discipline,most amplifiers are used more often by female than male writers and males tend to use by far more frequently than females.     

Male-female associations in the domestic guinea pig

Male courtship of nonreceptive females and male-male agonistic encounters were monitored daily for eight heterosexual groups of guinea pigs. Typically, one male (the associating male) accounted for much more courtship of a given female during her pregnancy than did any of the other males. Associating males were high ranking animals but were not always the group’s normal alpha male. Nonalpha associating males invariably ranked higher on the day of the female’s litter and postpartum estrus than their modal daily rank during her pregnancy. In 10 of the 18 cases, a nonalpha associating male took over the alpha position on the day of the litter. The courtship of females by associating males was found to differ from that by nonassociating males in that associating males displayed circling, rumping, swaying, and pursuit in a significantly higher percentage of the total number of courtship bouts.     

Gender differences in cognitive abilities of reading-disabled twins

Gender differences were assessed in three research-identified samples of children who were members of twin pairs: (1) 120 male and 124 female probands from same-sex identical and fraternal twin pairs in which at least one member of each pair is reading disabled; (2) a comparison sample of 148 males and 161 females from same-sex twin pairs with no history of reading problems; and (3) 34 pairs of opposite-sex fraternal twin pairs in which at least one member of each pair is reading disabled. Results of multivariate analyses of variance of psychometric test data from the two samples of same-sex twin pairs, in which the male and female subjects were reared in different homes, suggest that profiles of gender differences are similar in reading-disabled and control children. Moreover, this pattern of gender differences also tended to occur in opposite-sex twin pairs, who shared prenatal, as well as early postnatal, environmental influences. In general, reading-disabled males obtained higher average scores than affected females on Wechsler (1974, 1981) Verbal and Performance IQ, but lower scores on Reading Recognition and Spelling subtests of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (Dunn and Markwardt 1970). With regard to the Wechsler subtests, reading-disabled males achieved higher average scores on Information, Picture Completion, Block Design, and Object Assembly, but lower scores on Coding. Although significant and relatively consistent gender differences in cognitive measures were found in three samples included in this study, these differences account for only a small portion of the observed variance. This work was supported in part by a program project grant from NICHD (HD-11681), and the report was prepared while J.J. Gillis was supported by NICHD training grant HD-07289.     

Attraction to mobile and immobile conspecifics

Male and female laboratory rats invariably investigate a novel conspecific placed in their home cages. In Experiment 1, mature male rats were exposed in their home cages to active and inactive juvenile males. Inactive juveniles were pretreated with haloperidol to induce behavioral stasis in a normally upright, quadrupedal stance. In repeated daily observations, males exposed to active juveniles displayed significantly longer intervals of investigation than did males exposed to inactive juveniles. In Experiment 2, mature males and females were repeatedly exposed to active and inactive castrate females. Males investigated significantly longer than did females, active female castrates were investigated significantly longer than were inactive female castrates, and sex of subject interacted significantly with activity-nonactivity of the social stimulus animal. In Experiment 3, mature males and females were repeatedly exposed to active and inactive castrate males. Males investigated significantly longer than did females, active male castrates were investigated significantly longer than were inactive male castrates, and sex of subject interacted significantly with activity-nonactivity of the social stimulus animal. The results demonstrate that sexual dimorphism in persistence of social investigation may be interpreted as a sex difference in response to normal movement cues of a stimulus complex characterizing a conspecific.     

Play-solicitation behavior in juvenile male and female rats

Play-solicitation and social investigatory behaviors were observed in male and female juvenile rats exposed to playful and nonplayful juvenile social stimuli. A nonplayful state was induced by treatment with scopolamine HBr. In Experiment 1, the play-solicitation behavior of males exposed to nonplayful stimuli was reliably greater than that of females; social investigation did not differ by gender. In Experiment 2, males and females were exposed to nonplayful male and female stimuli. Male subjects engaged in more soliciting than did female subjects, and male social stimuli were subjected to more soliciting than were female social stimuli. Experiment 3 compared the influence of varying social deprivation intervals on play soliciting by male juveniles. Although social investigation did not vary reliably with interval of social deprivation, play soliciting increased reliably with longer intervals of isolation. In Experiment 4, play-soliciting behavior of males exposed to nonplayful males correlated positively and reliably with play fighting behavior upon exposure to normally playful males. The results support the proposal that some specific behaviors functionally provoke interactive play fighting.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Gender Differences in Affective Outcomes in Mathematics During Middle and High School

This study examined gender differences in the rate of change in mathematics affect (attitude and anxiety toward mathematics and utility of mathematics) across middle and high school, using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth. Hierarchical linear models indicated no gender differences in the rate of decline in either attitude or utility, but females grew faster in anxiety than males. Schools were more responsible for variation in the male than female rate of change in mathematics affect. Student and school variables influenced the rate of change in mathematics affect in a quite different way between males and females.     

How Partner Gender Influences Female Students’ Problem Solving in Physics Education

Research has shown that female students cannot profit as much as male students can from cooperative learning in physics, especially in mixed-gender dyads. This study has explored the influence of partner gender on female students’ learning achievement, interaction and the problem-solving process during cooperative learning. In Shanghai, a total of 50 students (26 females and 24 males), drawn from two classes of a high school, took part in the study. Students were randomly paired, and there were three research groups: mixed-gender dyads (MG), female–female dyads (FF) and male–male dyads (MM). Analysis of students’ pre- and post-test performances revealed that female students in the single-gender condition solved physics problems more effectively than did those in the mixed-gender condition, while the same was not the case for male students. We further explored the differences between female and male communication styles, and content among the three research groups. It showed that the females’ interaction content and problem-solving processes were more sensitive to partner gender than were those for males. This might explain why mixed-gender cooperation in physics disadvantages females in high schools.     

Attitudes Toward Computers of Gifted Students and their Teachers

One of the prerequisites for acceptance and implementation of computers in an educational system is a positive attitude of both teachers and students toward their use. This research, therefore, focuses on differences in attitudes toward computers between male and female teachers, female and male gifted students, and teachers and gifted students. Samples consisted of 217 gifted students (115 males and 102 females) and 125 teachers (30 males and 95 females) in the Amman Educational District, Jordan. Computer attitudes were measured by means of the Attitudes of Both Teachers and Students Toward Computers Questionnaire, and compared statistically to variables such as performance in mathematics, IQ, gender, teachers’ experience in teaching and computing, and teachers’ training. Results showed that participants are generally positive towards computers, and there were no significant differences in attitude between gifted students and teachers or between males and females. Attitudes towards computers, however, may be predicted by performance in mathematics and by IQ scores.     

The fourth R: Reasoning

This study examined the self‐concept of a small group of academically gifted adolescents in New Zealand, with the aim of exploring gender differences. Using the Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale: 2, a sample of 40 male and female 15–18 year old students participated. Results indicated gender differences: males scored higher than females on most dimensions with the exception of Self‐Criticism, Moral Self‐Concept, and Inconsistent Responding. Additionally, the mean score was higher for males than females. Results indicate gender differences do occur in some New Zealand gifted adolescents and warrant the need for further research in this area.