Spontaneous alternation phenomena in rhesus monkeys were studied by utilizing a modified WGTA under 23 hr. of food deprivation. Cue conditions, amounts of effortfulness, and qualities of reward were manipulated as experimental variables. Spontaneous alternation above the chance level could not be found in any condition. Animals tended to become fixed their responses over successive trials. Spontaneous fixation of response was retarded under the three conditions; when two identical cues were presented, when cues were presented both during inter- and intra- trial intervals, and when amount of effortfulness was increased.
A hypothesis was proposed that reactive inhibition instigated the animals to seek least effort and thus initiated investigatory and discriminatory activity.
It was emphasized that there were wide individual differences in alternation behavior.

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The purpose of the study is to present the observational date on parturition in Japanese monkey and to determine the sequences in mother-neonate interactions.
As an introductive review, the relative length of main life periods in primates were compared and found inconsistent with a generally recognized prolongation trend in growth with advance on the evolutionary scale of primates (Table 1). It was suggested that different trends in development between “secondary Nesthocker” human and “Nestlüchter” nonhuman primates were to be determined as well on behavioral aspects of mother-neonate interactions.
The observations were conducted at Psychology Laboratory of Osaka University. The subjects were two pregnant females : Animal A (Macaca fuscata yakui), aged five, wild-born, trapped at her first year of life, mated with a male of the same age, no delivery experience, and Animal B (Macaca fuscata fuscata), aged about seventeen, wild-born, trapped twenty-one days before delivery, mother of three females. Each animal was raised alone in a wooden cage (70×100 × 150cm) with iron bars front and bottom. Animal A was regularly observed for five days before delivery thirty minutes each at 11 p. m. 2 a. m. 5 a. m. 11 a. m. and 5 p. m. Animal A was delivered of a female at 00 : 16 a. m. 28, June, 1960 and Animal B was delivered of a male at 00 : 36 a. m. 21, March, 1962. Both animals were continuously observed from the onset of labor contraction through the third stage of labor. The activity level of Animal A measured by the numbers of shelf-climbing and the duration of reclining posture seemed to decrease during night time with advance toward parturition (Table 2). No definite types of behavior was relevant as to determine the exact time of delivery until the onset of contraction. The behavior of animal B differs from A mainly in number of labor contraction, period of the second stage, pulling out the neonate from vagina and period before and during eating placenta. The immediate neonateholding and snout-licking by mother and the early independent clinging by neonate were equally observed with the two cases (Table 3).

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Eine Übersprungbewegung kann auftreten, wenn im Tier zwei Triebe zu gleicher Zeit erregt werden, deren Handlungen antagonistisch sind. Ein zweiter Umstand, der zu Übersprungbewegungen Anlass gibt, ist das zu plötzliche Erreichen des Zieles. Drittens kann das Ausbleiben der notwendigen äusseren Reizung irgend wo in der Handlungskette Übersprungbewegungen hervorrufen. Allgemein darf man wohl erwarten, dass ein Drangüberschuss, der keinen Ausweg finden kann, zu Übersprungbewegungen Anlass gibt. Wenn eine Übersprungbewegung während eines Konfliktes zwischen zwei Instinkten auftritt, könnte diese z. B. entweder von einem oder von beiden gehemmten Drängen allochthon gespeist werden. Es bleibt aber ausserdem noch die Möglichkeit, dass infolge der antagonistischen Wirkung der Instinkte zwei in Konflikt geratene Instinkte ihre hemmende Wirkung auf einen dritten verlieren, der nun seinerseits die Übersprungbewegung bewirkt. SEVENSTER und IERSEL haben der Drangüberschusstheorie von TINBERGEN und KORTLANDT gegenüber eine neue Enthemmungshypothese aufgestellt und die Vorstellung vom “Überspringen” aktionsspezifischer Impulse abgelehnt. Es gilt zu entscheiden, ob die als Übersprung auftretende Bewegung in der Tat zu einem anderen (allochthonen) Drang gehört, oder ob die Handlung nur ein Ablauf desselben (autochthonen) Instinktes darstellt. Es wäre sehr wertvoll, dieses Problem experimentell genauer zu untersuchen.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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