Neophobia in taste-aversion conditioning: Individual differences and effects of contextual changes

Abstract

In Study 1, data from a total of 260 rats in eight separate taste-aversion (saccharin + lithium chloride) experiments were analyzed for individual differences of (1) preconditioning water intake, and (2) absolute saccharin intake on the first (conditioning) and second (test) presentations; and (3) correlations between water and first saccharin intakes and between first and second saccharin intakes. A varying number of novel exteroceptive stimuli were introduced to separate groups at conditioning. The data show that individual differences of initial saccharin intake are not due to fluid intake differences in general; that initial intake values largely predict subsequent intake; and that the higher number of novel exteroceptive cues at conditioning, the more suppression of drinking is evident. Study 2 replicated the above results in a separate experiment, and supports the conclusion that the initial degree of neophobia does not affect the “associative” component in taste-aversion learning. Overall, the findings support the view that an “associative” (taste-nausea) component is superimposed on a neophobic avoidance of the novel taste+exteroceptive context in this paradigm. © 1979, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.