A developmental study of the behaviour of mice fostered to normal and alcoholic virgin females.

Two conditions of temporary litter fostering, to water-drinking subjects and 28%-ethanol-drinking subjects, were compared to stay-with-mother condition and no-adult-present condition. Significant differences were found in the following variables: body weight during growth, self-feeding latency at weaning, timidity at one-month age, and, in adulthood, latency of females to contact an infant stimulus object and aggressive activities between males. It seems that the normal and the alcoholic virgin females had similar, long-lasting effect on emotionality of the fostered mice.