Intrinsic and extrinsic influences on play fighting in rats: effects of dominance, partner's playfulness, temperament and neonatal exposure to testosterone propionate
Abstract
Play fighting is a frequent activity of juvenile rats and appears to show marked variability amongst individuals in that some rats play a great deal and others very little. This study attempted to identify some of the factors involved in producing this individual variability. The major influence over an individual's frequency of play as a juvenile was found to be the frequency of play by the partner. That is, play appears to be contagious, in that a high playing animal stimulates its partner to play frequently as well. In male juveniles, but seemingly not in female juveniles, the subsequent adult status of one partner as dominant influences the subordinate-to-be to initiate more playful contacts. In addition to these extrinsic influences, however, there appear to be intrinsic factors that influence whether an individual is a high or low playing animal. One intrinsic factor appears to be 'boldness', so that bolder animals tend to initiate more playful contacts. Higher players tend to be more susceptible to the stereotypy-inducing effects of the dopamine agonist, apomorphine, and tend to be more dependent upon the playful activity of the partner to maintain their own high levels of play. Both of these characteristics are consistent with other studies comparing bold and timid rats. Boldness, however, only seems to influence how much play a rat will exhibit, not how much play it is capable of exhibiting. Neonatal testosterone augmentation increases juvenile play fighting but not…
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Play fighting in rats has been thoroughly studied and characterized.
“Play fighting in rats has been thoroughly studied and characterized (Pellis & McKenna, 1992;Pellis et al., 1997), and is distinguishable from aggressive behavior (Pellis & Pellis, 1987).”
From Play in Rats: Association across Contexts and Types, and Analysis of Structure (2014) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
Play partners can influence each other in a contagious way, i.e., a highly playful rat may induce more frequent play in its partner.
“Play partners can influence each other in a contagious way, i.e., a highly playful rat may induce more frequent play in its partner (Pellis & McKenna, 1992), therefore the analysis of sequences of play behavior between rats can shed light on possible associations between different types of play, namely social and locomotor play.”
From Play in Rats: Association across Contexts and Types, and Analysis of Structure (2014) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
This result may relate to hierarchy formation, the onset of which already occurs during adolescence, and might be driven by repetitions of Pinning by the animals which are to become dominant.
“This result may relate to hierarchy formation, the onset of which already occurs during adolescence (Pellis & McKenna, 1992), and might be driven by repetitions of Pinning by the animals which are to become dominant (Pellis & McKenna, 1992;Pellis et al., 1997).”
From Play in Rats: Association across Contexts and Types, and Analysis of Structure (2014) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
The Play-In-Pairs test can be a useful tool for a relatively quick assessment of playfulness.
“This result supports previous research suggesting that the Play-In-Pairs test can be a useful tool for a relatively quick assessment of playfulness (Niesink & van Ree, 1989;Pellis & McKenna, 1992;Vanderschuren, Stein et al., 1995).”
From Play in Rats: Association across Contexts and Types, and Analysis of Structure (2014) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
Repeated play sessions using different pair combinations of cage mates provides a measure of individual playfulness that is at least partly independent from the playfulness of the play partners.
“Repeated play sessions using different pair combinations of cage mates provides a measure of individual playfulness that is at least partly independent from the playfulness of the play partners (Pellis & McKenna, 1992).”
From Play in Rats: Association across Contexts and Types, and Analysis of Structure (2014) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
Play mates may vary in their intrinsic motivation to play.
“play mates may vary in their intrinsic motivation to play (Pellis & McKenna, 1992)”
From Play in Rats: Association across Contexts and Types, and Analysis of Structure (2014) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
Studies of social play in juvenile rats have revealed sex differences in playful defence behaviours, with males more likely to adopt a supine posture and females more likely to evade through lateral rotation.
“Studies of social play in juvenile rats have revealed sex differences in playful defence behaviours, with males more likely to adopt a supine posture and females more likely to evade through lateral rotation ( Pellis & McKenna, 1992; Pellis & Pellis, 1990).”
From Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats (2025) · cites this paper as Pellis & McKenna, 1992
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References 64 · Cited by 134
- Authors
- Pellis, S. M., & McKenna, M. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Lethbridge (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Pellis, Sergio M.
- ORCID
- Pellis, Sergio M.
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1992-09
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 135-145
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2053134489
- Cited by
- 134
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Florida
- LOEWE Zentrum AdRIA
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Keywords
- play fighting, young rats, social dominance, boldness, temperament, apomorphine, dopamine, stereotypy, androgen exposure, sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Agonistic Behavior, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Apomorphine, Dominance-Subordination, Female, Male, Play and Playthings, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sexual Maturation, Social Environment, Stereotyped Behavior, Temperament, Testosterone, Rats
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