Sexual Motivation
In addition to precopulatory and copulatory behaviors, we we can also consider the male’s desire to engage in sex behavior.
Sexual motivation: male’s inclination to seek out and approach a female for the purpose of mating.
Tests of sexual motivation:
latency to mount:
- mount quickly-->really motivated
- mount slowly-->not very motivated
- has problems--??
Train a male to press a bar to gain access to a female--how many bar presses will a male make? (more bar presses=greater motivation)
Separate males and females across an electrified grid--how much electrical current will a male withstand to gain access to a female? (greater current--greater motivation)