Summary
Copulation was observed in each of 21 male rats on two tests following ingestion of alcohol and on two tests following ingestion of water. Latencies to the first mount, intromission, and ejaculation were all increased by alcohol, as were the mean interval between successive intromissions and the length of the post-ejaculatory refractory period. Mount frequencies were increased. Accompanying these retardation effects was a sensitization-like effect-a decrease in the number of intromissions preceding ejaculation. This effect of alcohol on intromission frequency was discussed in relation to the well-documented “enforced-interval effect”.
References
Adler, N., and G. Bermant: Sexual behavior of male rats: effects of reduced sensory feedback. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 61, 240–243 (1966).
Beach, F. A.: Characteristics of masculine “sex drive”. In M. R. Jones (Ed.): Nebraska symposium on motivation, 1956. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press 1956.
Beach, F. A., and H. Fowler: Effects of “situational anxiety” on sexual behavior in male rats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 52, 245–248 (1959).
— and L. Jordan: Sexual exhaustion and recovery in the male rat. Quart. J. exp. Psychol. 8, 121–133 (1956).
—, and R. E. Whalen: Effects of intromission without ejaculation upon sexual behavior in male rats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 52, 476–481 (1959).
Bermant, G.: Effects of single and multiple enforced intercopulatory intervals on the sexual behavior of male rats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 57, 398–403 (1964).
—: Rat sex behavior: photographic analysis of the intromission response. Psychon. Sci. 2, 65–66 (1965).
Carlsson, S. G., and K. Larsson: Intromission frequency and intromission duration in the male rat mating behavior. Scand. J. Psychol. 3, 189–191 (1962).
Gantt, W. H.: Acute effect of alcohol on autonomic (sexual, secretory, cardiac) and somatic responses. In H. E. Himwich (Ed.): Alcoholism: basic aspects and treatment, pp. 73–89. Washington: A.A.A.S. 1957.
Grenell, R. G.: Some effects of alcohols on the central nervous system. In H. E. Himwich (Ed.): Alcoholism: basic aspects and treatment, pp. 7–17. Washington: A.A.A.S. 1957.
Larsson, K.: Conditioning and sexual behavior in the male albino rat. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell 1956.
—: The effect of restraint upon copulatory behavior in the rat. Anim. Behav. 7, 23–35 (1959).
—: Excitatory effects of intromission in mating behavior of the male rat. Behaviour 16, 66–73 (1960a).
—: Effects of enforced intervals in the mating behavior of rats of different ages. Z. Tierpsychol. 17, 547–551 (1960b).
—: The importance of time for the intromission frequency in the male rat mating behavior. Scand. J. Psychol. 2, 149–152 (1961).
—: Non-specific stimulation and sexual behavior in the male rat. Behaviour 20, 110–114 (1963).
Masters, W. H., and Virginia E. Johnson: Human sexual response. Boston: Little, Brown 1966.
Siegel, S.: Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill 1956.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was done during the authors' tenure as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Science Foundation in the Psychology Department of the University of California, Berkeley. The work was facilitated by grant MH 04000-07 from the National Institutes of Health to Dr. Frank A. Beach. The author wishes to thank Dr. Beach for his help throughout the execution of this experiment.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dewsbury, D.A. Effects of alcohol ingestion on copulatory behavior of male rats. Psychopharmacologia 11, 276–281 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00405234
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00405234