Abstract
A litter of eight young opossums, in which social facilitation of eating behavior had previously been demonstrated, were separated at approximately 140 days of age (80 days from the pouch) into two groups of four. One group lived and was fed for the next 62 days in a common cage, while the second group lived and was fed for this period in individual cages which prevented visual or tactual contact with other animals. At the end of this period, social facilitation of eating behavior was found to be markedly present for the group raised in isolation (p <.005), but was absent for the group raised in the common cage. The Ss raised in isolation also demonstrated significantly more emotionality (p <.001) and aggressiveness (p <.001) than did the Ss raised under the group condition.
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1. A preliminary report of this study was presented to the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology at its annual meeting, Roanoke, Va., March, 1967. This research was supported in part by the Office of General Research of the University of Georgia, and was conducted during the senior author’s tenure as a N. A. S. A. Predoctoral Trainee.
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Platt, J.J., Sutker, L.W. & James, W.T. Social facilitation of eating behavior in young opossums: II. The effects of isolation. Psychon Sci 10, 267–268 (1968). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331513
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331513