Adult female rats who have never before encountered rat pups will start to show maternal behaviours after being confined with a pup for about seven days. This period can be considerably shortened by diabling the female's sense of smell or by removing the scent-producing glands of the pup.
Which of the following hypotheses best explains the contrast described above?
(A) The sense of smell in adult female rats is more acute than that in the rat pups.
(B) The amount of scent produced by the rat pups increases when they are in the presence of a female rat that did not bear them.
(C) Female rats that have given birth are more affected by olfactory cues than are female rats that have never given birth.
(D) A female rat that has given birth shows maternal behaviour toward rat pups that she did not bear more quickly than does a female rat that has never given birth.
(E) The development of a female rat's maternal interest in a rat pup that she did not bear is inhibited by the odor of the pup.
OA: E
[spoiler]I did not understand how the answer is E. I am stuck between the options D and E. Please help!![/spoiler]
Which of the following hypotheses best explains the contrast described above?
(A) The sense of smell in adult female rats is more acute than that in the rat pups.
(B) The amount of scent produced by the rat pups increases when they are in the presence of a female rat that did not bear them.
(C) Female rats that have given birth are more affected by olfactory cues than are female rats that have never given birth.
(D) A female rat that has given birth shows maternal behaviour toward rat pups that she did not bear more quickly than does a female rat that has never given birth.
(E) The development of a female rat's maternal interest in a rat pup that she did not bear is inhibited by the odor of the pup.
OA: E
[spoiler]I did not understand how the answer is E. I am stuck between the options D and E. Please help!![/spoiler]
