Abstract
An experiment which analyzed the dominance order of four male crickets and the influence of social inversion. The Ss were paired with each other in encounters in order to obtain a dominance order. Once the order was determined the Ss were taken out from the group, starting with the Alpha and going down to the Delta animal, until all animals were inverted into the new group. The inverted group remained dominated by the same animal as in the original group. One cricket (IV) showed an increase of 26% in the amount of total wins. The increase was explained as a result of : 1) IV was the last animal to be inverted ; 2) going into battle with II and III, IV was coming off from isolation and a previous win-an advantage in his favor, and 3) IV was molting during the time of the encounter. Results indicated that the dominance order in the original group and the order in the inverted group were similar although certain differences were noted.
