Can Orally Consumed Calories Condition Preferences for Relatively Unacceptable Tastes?

A reverse-order differential conditioning procedure adapted from Boakes and Lubart (1988) was employed in an attempt to condition preferences to relatively unacceptable tastes in rats. Rats received 10 ml of a calorific reinforcer, which after a short delay was followed by one taste cue, either citr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Learning and motivation 2000-05, Vol.31 (2), p.153-179
Main Authors: Forestell, Catherine A., LoLordo, Vincent M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Rodents
Sensory perception
Taste
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Summary:A reverse-order differential conditioning procedure adapted from Boakes and Lubart (1988) was employed in an attempt to condition preferences to relatively unacceptable tastes in rats. Rats received 10 ml of a calorific reinforcer, which after a short delay was followed by one taste cue, either citric acid or sucrose octaacetate (both were mixed in water), and 10 ml of water followed by the other taste cue. During subsequent two-bottle tests, these animals failed to show a preference for the taste that had been paired with the calorific reinforcer relative to the taste that had been paired with water. When the same reverse-order procedure was employed using taste cues which were mixed in saccharin rather than water, rats acquired a significant preference for the CS+ mixture regardless of whether they were water restricted or not. These results suggest that without the presence of saccharin in the CS solutions, rats do not acquire conditioned preferences for relatively unacceptable tastes.
ISSN:0023-9690
1095-9122
DOI:10.1006/lmot.1999.1048