It sounds like each test involved the same person both giving injections and sitting in the room. I wonder if they can somehow mechanically inject the irritant without human involvement. Then they could have male/female participants sit in the room without knowing if any animals are present. This would help distinguish whether the rodents were reacting to a general difference in scents, or males and females give off different signals when handling rodents.
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It sounds like each test involved the same person both giving injections and sitting in the room. I wonder if they can somehow mechanically inject the irritant without human involvement. Then they could have male/female participants sit in the room without knowing if any animals are present. This would help distinguish whether the rodents were reacting to a general difference in scents, or males and females give off different signals when handling rodents.