Responses by young house mice (Mus musculus) to odors from stressed vs. nonstressed adult conspecifics

Abstract

Mice were reared from birth until testing with their dams, sires, and siblings. In a two-choice odor-preference test, 22 48-day-old mice reliably preferred (p=.02) the odor from non-stressed adult males over that from stressed adult males. Twenty-seven 24-day-old mice showed no reliable preference for either test odor. When contrasted with earlier research, the present findings suggest that previous experience with an adult other than the dam may play a role in the development by mice of species-typical responses to socially significant odors. This experiential effect seems more evident in female mice than in males. © 1980, The psychonomic soceity, inc. All rights reserved.