HORMONES AND MATING BEHAVIOR 



1193 



CHIMPANZEE 



RODENTS 



OVULATION 



FOLLICULAR PHASE 



LUTEAL PHASE 



Fig. 19.1. Association of .sexual receptivity with phases of the lepiochictive cycle in female 

 laboratory rodents, the chimpanzee, and man. (From W. C. Young, Pregnancy Wastage. 

 Charles C Thomas, 1953. With permission of the publisher.) 



that the highly inljred strain 13 females are 

 highest in vigor despite the fact that they 

 are lowest in responsiveness. Strain 2 fe- 

 males are highest in responsiveness but in- 

 termediate in vigor. The genetically hetero- 

 geneous females are lowest in vigor but 

 intermediate in responsiveness. A compara- 

 ble analysis of males has not been made. 



III. Problems Coninion to the 

 Male and Female 



Thus far in our consideration of the hor- 

 mones and mating behavior, reference has 

 been made to a number of problems common 

 to both sexes, but for the most part the dis- 

 cussion has dealt with those related rather 

 specifically to one sex or the other. Turning 

 now to problems common to both sexes we 

 find a number that are of importance. 



A. SPECIFICITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BE- 

 TWEEN THE HORMONES AND RESPONSE 



AYhat probably is an oversimplified con- 

 cept has been presented. It is that andro- 

 gens stimulate masculine behavior in males 

 and that estrogens, or estrogens and pro- 

 gesterone, stimulate feminine behavior in 

 females. There is evidence, however, for 

 many deviations from this relationship in 

 intact untreated animals, as well as in ani- 

 mals under experimental conditions. The 

 occurrence of these deviations is the basis 

 for much of the doubt that has been ex- 

 pressed with respect to the specificity of sex 

 hormone action. 



An early opinion was that ovarian hor- 

 mones stimulate only female morphologic 

 and behavioral characters and that testicu- 

 lar hormones stimulate onlv male sex char- 



