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The Behavior of the Laboratory Rat : A Handbook with Tests

Ian Q. Whishaw and Bryan Kolb (eds)

Published in print: 2004 Published Online: May Publisher: Oxford University Press
2009
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780195162851 eISBN: 9780199863891 acprof:oso/9780195162851.001.0001
Item type: book

This book contains a wide range of information of huge complexity

on rat behavior. The book has three objectives. The first objective is
to present an introduction of rat behavior. In choosing the rat as the
subject species, the book has made the assumption that this species will
remain, as it has in the past, the primary subject used the laboratory
investigations of behavior. The second objective is to describe the
organization and complexity of rat behavior. The major theme emerging
from many lines of research on rat behavior is that understanding
the rules of behavioral organization will be central in understanding
the structural basis of behavior. The third objective is to update, as
much as is possible, previous compendiums of rat behavior. Behavioral
neuroscience continues to be a diverse field of research in which there
remain many competing experimental methods and hypotheses. The
behavioral descriptions in this book are closely tied to the laboratory
methods from which they were derived, thus allowing investigators
to exploit both the behavior and the methods for their own research.
The first part of the book includes sections on natural history, sensory
systems, motor systems, regulatory systems, development and parental
behavior, social behavior, cognitive functions, and models. The second
section is comprised by the major tests used by scientists interested in
each domain of behavior.

Parenting Stress

Kirby Deater-Deckard
Published in print: 2004 Published Online:
Publisher: Yale University Press
October 2013
DOI: 10.12987/yale/9780300103939.001.0001
ISBN: 9780300103939 eISBN: 9780300133936
Item type: book

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All parents experience stress as they attempt to meet the challenges

of caring for their children. This comprehensive book examines the
causes and consequences of parenting distress, drawing on a wide array
of findings in current empirical research. The author explores normal
and pathological parenting stress, the influences of parents on their
children as well as children on their parents, and the effects of biological
and environmental factors. Beginning with an overview of theories
of stress and coping, he goes on to describe how parenting stress is
linked with problems in adult and child health (emotional problems,
developmental disorders, illness); parental behaviors (warmth, harsh
discipline); and factors outside the family (marital quality, work roles,
cultural influences). The book concludes with a useful review of coping
strategies and interventions that alleviate parenting stress.

Determinants of child health

Mitch Blair, Sarah Stewart-Brown, Tony Waterston, and Rachel Crowther

in Child Public Health
Published in print: 2010 Published Online: May Publisher: Oxford University Press
2010
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199547500 eISBN: 9780191720123 acprof:oso/9780199547500.003.003
Item type: chapter

This chapter uses the Mandala framework of health determinants to

describe the many interweaving factors that influence child health.
It is shown that parental health and genetic constitution, antenatal
and postnatal nutrition, and infection influence early human biological
factors such as birthweight. At a family level, support, nurturance, and
stimulation influence the development of language, social and emotional
health. The family is in turn influenced by resources determined in
large part by employment and financial security. Neighbourhoods and
communities play a part in determining what families can and cannot
offer their children. Here factors such as safety, social cohesion, and the
avoidance of ghettoization of poor and marginalized families are key
influences on early childhood development. The way in which we design
our cities and their social organization has a major influence at this level.
At the widest level of social aggregation, the key factors are sociopolitical
organization and programme delivery. Income distribution, patterns of
employment and migration, and societal attitudes to children and young
people influence the conditions in which children live, learn, and grow
up. This chapter describes each of these levels of influence and gives
examples of how these determinants effect the child in the centre of the
Mandala diagram.

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Maternal Behavior

Stephanie L. Rees, Vedran Lovic, and Alison S. Fleming

in The Behavior of the Laboratory Rat: A Handbook with Tests
Published in print: 2004 Published Online: May Publisher: Oxford University Press
2009
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780195162851 eISBN: 9780199863891 acprof:oso/9780195162851.003.0027
Item type: chapter

This chapter describes maternal behavior of the laboratory rat and

outlines various methods of observing and quantifying this behavior.
Although in some rodent biparental species males also show parental
behavior, this is not the case for most rodents, including R. norvegicus.
However, under certain experimental conditions, males also show many
of the components of behavior normally shown by the mother rat. The
general and specific methods for the testing of maternal behavior are
described. Several environmental and situational factors that affect the
expression of maternal behavior are considered.

Genetics and epigenetics of parental care

Frances A. Champagne and James P. Curley
in The Evolution of Parental Care
Published in print: 2012 Published Online:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
December 2013
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199692576 eISBN: 9780191774737 acprof:oso/9780199692576.003.0017
Item type: chapter

This chapter describes how both genetic and epigenetic approaches have
been applied to the study of parental care/caregiving, with a particular
focus on species in which there have been molecular analyses of these
mechanisms (Apis mellifera, rodents, primates, and humans). Targeted
gene deletion, QTL analyses, gene polymorphism associations, DNA
methylation, and gene expression assays in these species have identified
specific genes that play a critical role in the interactions between parents
and offspring. It is apparent from these studies that genes which promote
or inhibit parental behaviour also shape the ability of offspring to solicit
resources and that genes implicated in parental care often have an
impact on a broad range of phenotypic outcomes. The transmission of
variation in parental care across generations may involve both genetic
and epigenetic pathways and thus both of these processes contribute to
the evolution of parental behaviour.

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Scent marking and interactions: social behaviour

Hans Kruuk

in Otters: Ecology, behaviour and conservation

Published in print: 2006 Published Online: April Publisher: Oxford University Press
2010
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780198565871 eISBN: 9780191728228 acprof:oso/9780198565871.003.0006
Item type: chapter

Olfactory communication is important; in all but sea otters, faeces

(spraints) are used for scent-marking. In Eurasian otters this is highly
seasonal, associated with feeding and food availability, enabling spacingout between individuals. Vocal communication is elaborate, especially in
gregarious species; giant otters use underwater vocalizations. Aggressive
behaviour in Eurasian otters is inter- and intra-sexual, with fights mostly
between males. Sexual behaviour is described. In almost all species
only the female is involved in parental care, which is very prolonged
(often more than 1 year) compared with similar-sized carnivores. The
sea otter carries one single cub, showing great attachment. Eurasian
otter cubs reach maximum fishing efficiency after almost 2 yrs. The
long dependency is likely related to the problems of catching fish, and it
affects population dynamics.

Maternal Influences on Offspring Growth, Reproduction, and

Behavior in Primates
Dario Maestripieri

in Maternal Effects in Mammals

Published in print: 2009 Published Online:
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
February 2013
DOI: 10.7208/
ISBN: 9780226501192 eISBN: 9780226501222 chicago/9780226501222.003.0012
Item type: chapter

This chapter reviews current knowledge about maternal influences on

offspring growth, reproduction, and behavior in nonhuman primates,
particularly Old World monkeys. It describes the process by which
dominance rank is acquired and transmitted across generations in
cercopithecine monkeys and discusses the findings of studies which
investigated the influence of maternal dominance and/or body condition
on offspring sex ratios at birth. This chapter also examines maternal
influences on offspring behavior and physiology, including offspring
social and mating preferences, reactivity to the environment and
parental behavior.

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Legal Intervention when a Fetus is Threatened or Harmed

John Seymour

in Childbirth and the Law

Published in print: 2000 Published Online:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
March 2012
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780198264682 eISBN: 9780191682759 acprof:oso/9780198264682.003.0002
Item type: chapter

This chapter examines how the law in the United States, Canada,
and England has responded to parental behaviour which threatens
the welfare of a fetus or causes it harm. The aim of the various legal
procedures discussed is to protect the fetus. This aim can be pursued
in different ways and at different stages of the antenatal and perinatal
period. During a womans pregnancy, the law may be invoked in an
attempt to prevent threatened harm. The same purpose may be pursued
at the time of delivery. Alternatively, legal action might be taken
immediately after the birth of an impaired child. At first sight, it may
seem odd to regard postnatal intervention as a means of protecting the
fetus, but it is possible for the law to take action after the event in order
to express societys disapproval of certain conduct and so to seek to
deter its repetition.

Theoretical Rationale for the Longitudinal Study

Kathryn P. Meadow-Orlans, Lynne Sanford Koester, Patricia E. Spencer, and

Robert H. MacTurk
in The World of Deaf Infants: A Longitudinal Study
Published in print: 2004 Published Online: April Publisher: Oxford University Press
2010
DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780195147902 eISBN: 9780199893775 acprof:oso/9780195147902.003.0002
Item type: chapter

This chapter provides a general view of the different worlds of deaf and
hearing infants born to hearing or to deaf parents, and a summary of
the major variables investigated in the study. The chapter is organized
to show the major tasks and achievements of infants during this period,
the parental behaviors that facilitate development, and the research
questions that framed the Gallaudet Infancy Study (GIS). These sections
are followed by a description of the ordinary course of parent-infant
relationships when infants are deaf and parents are hearing, and then by
a description of the influence of Deaf culture on the relationships of deaf
infants with deaf parents.

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