Post by TriciaF on Oct 4, 2004 20:21:29 GMT -5
The Coolidge Effect
One day the president [Calvin Coolidge] and Mrs. Coolidge were visiting a government farm. Soon after their arrival, they were taken on separate tours. When Mrs. Coolidge passed the chicken pens, she paused to ask the man in charge if the rooster copulates more than once each day. "Dozens of times" was the reply. "Please tell that to the president," Mrs. Coolidge requested.
When the president passed the pens and was told about the rooster, he asked, "Same hen every time?" "Oh no, Mr. President, a different one each time." The president nodded slowly and said, "Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge."
Apparently, this obscure presidential anecdote perfectly illustrated what animal breeders and scientists had long observed: In mammals, the male becomes resistant to repeated sex with the same female but can quickly be rearoused when presented with a new female. (As this story circulated among researchers, what was once termed the novelty effect came to be known as the Coolidge effect.)
One day the president [Calvin Coolidge] and Mrs. Coolidge were visiting a government farm. Soon after their arrival, they were taken on separate tours. When Mrs. Coolidge passed the chicken pens, she paused to ask the man in charge if the rooster copulates more than once each day. "Dozens of times" was the reply. "Please tell that to the president," Mrs. Coolidge requested.
When the president passed the pens and was told about the rooster, he asked, "Same hen every time?" "Oh no, Mr. President, a different one each time." The president nodded slowly and said, "Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge."
Apparently, this obscure presidential anecdote perfectly illustrated what animal breeders and scientists had long observed: In mammals, the male becomes resistant to repeated sex with the same female but can quickly be rearoused when presented with a new female. (As this story circulated among researchers, what was once termed the novelty effect came to be known as the Coolidge effect.)
