HORMONES AND MATING BEHAVIOR 



1221 



perience and the deterniinution of the nature 

 of the response to gonadal hormones has a 

 genesis that is entirely different from any- 

 thing presented in the earlier part of our 

 discussion. Green, Clemente and de Groot 

 (1957) reported that prepubertal male cats 

 displayed masculine behavior when testos- 

 terone was administered, and feminine be- 

 havior when stilbestrol tablets were given 

 intramuscularly. They characterized the ef- 

 fect as "reversible." When adult males were 

 treated, masculine behavior was displayed, 

 not only in response to testosterone pro- 

 pionate, but also in response to the female 

 hormones, estradiol and stilbestrol; this ef- 

 fect was "irreversible." 



The authors' explanation for the different 

 action of the steroids before and after pu- 

 berty was frankly speculative. It seemed 

 "unlikely that education in any ordinary 

 sense is involved after the first coitus," and 

 they suggest that "the type of first sexual 

 experience may determine the subsequent 

 behavioral reaction to hormones that have 

 the same effect on the secondary sex char- 

 acteristics and reproductive tract both be- 

 fore and after puberty." 



Elsewhere they continue, "Perhaps the 

 simplest explanation is that before sexual 

 experience, the steroids set the stage for 

 later education and determine the animal's 

 receptivity to another kind of experience; 

 that is, they determine the mood of the pre- 

 puberal animal. Without full experience 

 then, the mood is reversible; but once ex- 

 perience has been acquired, the pattern of 

 behavior is set and is not changed by the 

 administration of the steroids of the op- 

 posite sex. The steroids in the adult would 

 thus be assumed to increase drive in a non- 

 specific way." Clearly, in this latter investi- 

 gation, there are difficulties, especially if an 

 extension of the hypothesis to the female 

 is to be inferred. At this stage, a considered 

 evaluation of what is proposed cannot be 

 given. 



For all who are investigating the pattern- 

 ing of mating behavior through contact 

 with other animals, the circumstance that 

 some of the results have varied when the 

 development of such behavior in different 

 species was being studied need not concern 

 us, except as it stimulates further and 



better designed exjieriments and reveals any 

 evolutionary trend. A common denominator 

 is that at many levels the experiential factor 

 has been demonstrated to be related to the 

 character of the behavior brought to ex- 

 pression by the gonadal hormones. Against 

 this background, a number of problems are 

 of obvious interest: identification of the ef- 

 fective element or elements in the contact 

 with other animals, the locus of action — 

 whether it is on the arousal mechanism or 

 the consummatory mechanism, or both, any 

 relationship between the age of the animal 

 and the influence of these experiential fac- 

 tors on the character of behavior, any effect 

 of the presence of gonadal hormones on the 

 learning process, and, no doubt, others. 

 Fortunately, most of these problems are al- 

 ready receiving attention. 



IV. Concluding Remarks 



The frequency with which reference is 

 made to the many articles that have ap- 

 peared since sexual behavior was discussed 

 in the second edition of Sex and Internal 

 Secretions attests to the activity during 

 that interval. The years were characterized 

 by a gratifying accumulation of data, by 

 important advances in methodology, and 

 by a challenging speculation with respect 

 to factors regulating the display of sexual 

 behavior during adulthood and influencing 

 its development in young animals. These 

 have been seen to be genetical, psychologic 

 or experiential, and hormonal. The part 

 played by each can be visualized by recall- 

 ing two generalizations which emerged from 

 the numerous data reviewed in the preced- 

 ing sections. The first is that the pattern of 

 mating behavior is mediated by tissues in 

 which a certain organization has developed 

 or, perhaps better, by tissues on w^hich a 

 certain character has been conferred. The 

 second is that mating behavior is always 

 displayed with a certain strength or vigor, 

 regardless of the pattern. We will risk 

 a temporary confusion by adding that, 

 whereas the strength or vigor of behavior 

 can be thought of and dealt with as a sepa- 

 rate concept, in the animal it is also a part 

 of the pattern of behavior (Young, 1957). 

 No species is an exception to these general- 



