Forty male rats were maintained for 60 days in isolated (N = 20) or paired (N = 20) housing conditions. Beginning at 87 days of age, subject pairs from the same housing condition were tested for gregarious behavior in a circular open field over a 7 -day test period. On each test day, half of the subjects within each housing condition were paired with the same animal and half of the subjects were paired with a different animal. The results indicated rats housed in isolation are more gregarious than rats housed in pairs. Across test days gregarious behavior increased. In addition, gregariousness increased for those subjects which were paired with a different conspecific on each test day. This finding suggests that partner novelty, as well as housing conditions, are factors which can influence gregarious behavior.Studies on the effects of housing conditions on gregarious behavior in the rat have produced contrasting results. Investigators report individual and group housing have no effect on gregarious behavior (Bayroff, 1936), individual housing increases gregarious behavior (Latane,

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between successful and unsuccessful social experiences and dominant-subordinate behavior of the rat. Twelve 60-day-old subjects were used in the experiment. Six of the subjects were each housed with two 90-day-old animals, and six were each housed with two 30-day-old animals. These groups were placed on a feeding schedule involving a period of food competition for 30 days. At the age of 90 days the subjects were matched against each other in a dominance test box. The results of the dominance tests revealed that those subjects which had been unsuccessful in competition for food were dominant and those subjects which had been successful were subordinate. These findings were discussed in terms of several possible explanations. 1 This study is based upon a thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate College of Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in psychology, July 1967.

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