Primiparous and multiparous monkey mothers in a mildly stressful social situation: First three months

Abstract

MrrcHei.t., C . , and STEVENS, C. 'I\'. (1969). Priiniparous und Mttltiparous Monkey Mothers in a .hlildly Stressful Social Situation: First Three hJonths. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, l(4): [280][281][282][283][284][285][286]. Eight primiparous rhesus monkey mothers were matched with 8 multiparous rhesus monkey mothers with regard to date of delivery and sex of infant. Each niothei-was housed and tested individually with her infant to preclude the compensating effects of peer experience. The test situation involved transporting each mother-infant pair from the home cage to a test cage of similar size where the pair was visually exposed to a strange mother-infant pair and human observers. The prirniparous mothers looked at. threatened, fear grimaced, and lip-smacked to these social stimuli significantly more frequently than did the multiparous females. In addition, the inexperienced mothers stroked or petted their infants significantly more frequently than the experienced mothers. T h e results support the idea that primiparous mothers are more "anxious" or concerned for their infants' welfare than are multiparous mothers. The first child tjpically 1xc;iks tiail-that is the parcnts learn about children the hai-d way, by practicing on their first born, who is on the receiving end not only of their fumblings, uncertainties, and do\vni-ight mistakes. but m;iy also bear the brunt of the excessive anxiety and o v e i ptotecti\cness often expcncleti on a first child. (Pp. 152-159).Differences between first-and seconcl-borns are also related to the prenatal environment of the inexperienced mother, Iieritable factors, sibling rivalry, or absence of siblings in early life. Although the area of maternal anxiety and overprotection is of primary concern here, the present report attempts only to demonstrate an overall difference between the mothers Rcccivctl for publication 10 February, 1969. 280of first-borns and the mothers of subsequent infants.

What is an “Adverse” Environment? Interactions of Rearing Experiences and MAOA Genotype in Rhesus Monkeys

“…Mothers in corncribs were significantly more likely (p =.004) to be primiparous (15 of 26, or 57.7%) than were FR mothers (115 of 375, or 30.7%). Compared to multiparous mothers, maternal behavior of primipara is usually characterized as more “anxious” (26–28). Moreover, having a primiparous mother means there are no older siblings available for social interaction, and being born into a cage with other primiparous mothers would result in fewer available older peers.…”

Determinants of fecundity and reproductive success in captive vervet monkeys

“…This relationship is suggestive in two respects. First, several studies have demonstrated that primiparous mothers are behaviorally less competent than multiparous mothers in caring for their infants [Mitchell and Stevens, 1979;Hiraiwa, 1981;Hooley and Simpson, 1981;Fairbanks, in press). Studies on the functional significance of infant caretaking by nonmothers often make an argument for the beneficial effect of experience in infant handling for the caretaker [Gartlan, 1969;Struhsaker, 1971;Lancaster, 1971;Hrdy, 19761.…”

First‐time rhesus monkey mothers, and mothers of sons, preferentially engage in face‐to‐face interactions with their infants

“…A wide variety of studies have demonstrated how variations in mother–infant interactions can influence offspring development at a genetic [reviewed in Meaney, 2001], cognitive [Murray et al, 1996; Olson et al, 1986], physiological [Feldman, 2012] and behavioral level [Mitchell & Stevens, 1968]. For example, pups of high licking/grooming-arched-back nursing (LG-ABN) rat mothers show reduced physiological and behavioral reactivity to stressful situations, and are themselves better mothers than low LG-ABN mothers [Meaney, 2001].…”