Behaviors that are instantly shown in the mother after giving birth. Four measurable behaviors seen in rat mothers are nest building, crouching over pups, retrieving pups, and nursing.  

Maternal Behavior

Parental Care Reference Library

Male involvement varies across taxa, species, and populations. In mammals, male involvement is relatively rare due to internal fertilization because paternity is not ensured. Paternal behavior is influenced by many factors such as early social environment and genetic differences. 

Paternal Behavior

Studies have shown that different sensory cues from an offspring can signal or drive parental interaction. for example, if an offspring of a domestic hen makes a distressed call, then the hen will immediately come to rescue. A simple visual cue, however, will not spark this immediate response. In mammals, different sensory modalities can combine or isolate to trigger different steps of parental care and responses. 

Sensory Cues

The quality of parental care in humans is influenced by many environmental and physiological factors including stress and mental illnesses. Postpartum depression affects more than 10% of mothers in the United States. 

The Influence of Mental Illnesses on Parental Behaviors

Behavior that follows copulation and is necessary for raising offspring. Very important for humans because our newborns are considered altricial, meaning  we are not born with high level motor and sensory skills. 

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

University of California, Davis

- Reproductive behavior regulation
- Pheromones
- Parental care

Focuses of Sexual Behavior

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Reproductive behavior has four main stages: 
- Sexual attraction
- Appetitive behavior
- Copulation
- Postcopulatory behavior

Reproductive Behavior

Pheromones are specialized chemical messages secreted by an individual to communicate with other members of the same species. This type of communication is often utilized to broadcast a potential mate's reproductive status.

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