The differences between simultaneously or separately tested instrumental sexual responses in rats

Abstract

The instrumental sexual responses were investigated in male and female rats in the following experimental situations: (1) when the instrumental responses were tested simultaneously in the male and the female (2) when the male was a subject and the female was used as a reward only, and (3) when the opposite was true. The analysis of the data indicated that if the instrumental responses were tested separately in male and female rats, the male response latencies were significantly shorter than the female ones, while during the simultaneous testing no such difference was observed. This phenomenon seems to be a result of avoiding by the male rat of the frustration which occurs during waiting for the female after accomplishing the instrumental response.