19 



The Hormones and Mating Behavior' 



William C. Young, Ph.D. 



PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY, THE UNIVERSITY OF ie\NSAS, LAWRENCE, KANSAS 



I. Introduction 1173 of reproduction. Courtship with display and 



II. Mating Behavior 1175 yocahzation is directed toward this end, 



A. Ihe Male 1175 ■ ,1 i i • 1 • i • • 1 



B. The Female 1186 '^^ ^^ ^'^^ behavior cuhiiinatmg in sexual 

 III. Problems Common to the Male and union. Nest building, incubational behavior, 



Female 1193 and care of the young after hatching or 



A. Specificity of the Relationship be- during the suckling period are final steps 



tween the Hormones and Response . 1193 • ,1 1 <• r • * 



B. The Manner of Hormone Action, i.e., ^f ^^^^ reproduction of many species. Among 



Organization or Activation 1199 the components of the total pattern of re- 



C. Age of the Animal and the Hormonal productive behavior in the lower vertebrates 



Regulation of Mating Behavior... 1202 and mammals are the prototypes of much 



D. Problem of the Mechanism and site of ^^ ^j^^ behavior seen in man— aggressive- 



action of Gonadal Hormones.... 1204 p , 



E. Nongonadal Hormones and Mating ^^SS, courtship, mating, and care of the 



Behavior 1209 young. It follows therefore that compara- 



F. The Somatic Factor and Mating Be- tive study of the factors regulating and 



TT^ ^, havior . ^. 1213 mediating the display of this behavior 



Iv. Concluding Remarks 1221 , ,, , u 1 r i • 4.1, ^ -n ^- c 



V. References 1224 should be as helpful in the clarification of 



the many problems in man as has been the 



I. Introduction comparative approach in the study of other 



Reproductive behavior is composed of the ^^^^^ activities, 

 l^arts of the total behavior pattern which The difficulties encountered in initiating 

 subserve reproduction more directly and ^^^^^ studies are documented m the His- 

 importantly than any other vital activity, ^^nj of the National Research Council Corn- 

 Migration, whether it is the long distance ^"^^^^ for Research in Problems of Sex 

 seasonal migration of many birds and fishes, ^Aberle and Corner, 1953). They are re- 

 the shorter seasonal migration of certain fleeted m the circumstance that single chap- 

 mammals, or the vernal migration to the ^^rs were considered sufficient for the sub- 

 water of many amphibians, belongs in this J^^* m the first and second editions of Sex 

 category. Aggressive behavior manifested «"f^ Internal Secretions (Stone, 1932b, 

 during the establishment of territoriality 1939b). Since then, however, an accelerated 

 and in the attainment of dominance within P^ce has been maintained, so much so that 

 a group is an element in social behavior, an appraisal of progress can best be 

 but it is also a step toward the achievement achieved by separate treatments of mating 



behavior, parental behavior, aggressiveness, 



^Many of the investigations to which there is j sexuality, and the problem of the 



reference were made possible by grants from the -^ ' * 



Committee for Research in Problems of Sex, neural mechanisms mediating such behav- 



Xational Academy of Sciences-National Research ior. Mating behavior will be dealt with in 



Council. Latterlv, as.sistance has been provided -l\ • pl-i^.^+pi. 



bv Re.search Grants M-504 to M-504(C8) from the r^, | ' ■, . , • u u • 



National Institute of Mental Health, of the Na- The dependence of mating behavior on 



tional Institutes of Health, Public Health Service. the gonadal hormones has long been re- 



1173 



