Introduction - What is sexual behavior?

Current Meanings of the Term 3: Reproductive Behavior

Lower Mammals

In the lower mammals, sexual behavior is firmly regulated by certain specific physiologic controls. At certain times when fertilization is possible, males and females respond to certain behavioral "cues" in each other and thus begin to interact in such a way that the male and female sex cells are brought together. For example, the male may mount the female, their sex organs may be joined together, and he may ejaculate into her body where fertilization can then take place. However, the entire sequence of actions and responses can be completed only if all necessary cues are received by both partners. Male and female sexual behaviors have to reinforce each other at every step and in very specific ways. The animals are "programmed" to effect fertilization, but the program breaks down or even fails to develop without such mutual reinforcement. This means, among other things, that the sexual behavior of these animals is not "instinctive", i.e., entirely directed from within. Instead, it is "built up" or "put together" in response to certain stimuli at the time of its occurrence.