maternal behavior

the actions of females associated with caring for their young. These can range from feeding or nursing to protection, thermoregulation, and teaching skills to the young. Its exact expression, however, depends on a number of factors, including the developmental status of the young at birth, levels of various hormones (e.g., estrogen, oxytocin, progesterone, prolactin), and environmental influences. The analogous male behavior is known as paternal behavior. See also parental behavior.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

co-occurrence

n. a relation between two or more phenomena (objects or events) such that they tend to occur together. For example, thunder co-occurs with lightning, and in English the letter Q typically co-occurs with the letter U. By itself, co-occurrence does not imply a causal link: For co-occurrence to become covariation, there must be a systematic correlation between both the occurrence of the phenomena and their nonoccurrence. —co-occur vb.