Abstract
In two experiments using different procedures we have found that attack latency, having been reduced by a previous priming attack, returns to baseline levels over a 24 hr period. In both experiments an unexpected, transient increase in attack latency occured 2 hr postpriming. The procedure of the second experiment precludes the possibility that this is a circadian effect. There were no cumulative effects of successive priming attacks suggesting that, under the conditions of these experiments, each attack "resets" the animals' aggressive state. The effects of a single brief agonistic encounter are substantial and persistent enough to be involved in such phenomena as the escalation and redirection of aggression observed in field studies.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 199-208 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Behavioural Processes |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1985 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank Ms. Kathy Forte for help in testing subjects in Experiment 1 and Ms. Arlene Antilla for help in screening and Ms. Jane H. Gruen, Word Processing Center Supervisor for help in preparation of this manuscript. This work was supported by Grant 14-039 from the New York State Health Research Council and a grant from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.