Conditioning and extinction of taste aversions with variations in intensity of the CS and UCS in two strains of rats

Abstract

One hundred and eighty male rats (90 Sprague-Dawley albinos and 90 Long-Evans hoodeds) were conditioned to avoid a distinctively flavored fluid by twice conditionally pairing the fluid with a drug-induced illness. The UCS (induced by injection of cyclophosphamide) followed the CS by 30 min. The CS and UCS were varied factorially at three levels of intensity. The results indicated that the strength of the aversion was both a function of the intensity of the CS and UCS and that the hooded animals developed stronger and more persistent aversions. The results suggest that conditioned taste aversions are similar to more conventional Pavlovian phenomena. © 1971, Psychonomic Journals, Inc.. All rights reserved.