Uncontrollable water deliveries and subsequent finickiness

Abstract

The present experiment investigated the alteration of ingestive behaviors as an outcome of exposure to uncontrollable water deliveries in order to examine the mechanisms underlying finickiness. The experiment employed a single treatment session during which rats were exposed to response-contingent, response-independent, or no-water deliveries in a triadic design. Subsequent two-bottle tests (quinine vs. water) conducted in the treatment apparatus revealed finickiness about the novel, bitter quinine solution in rats previously exposed to uncontrollable water deliveries. Thus, finickiness does not depend on the fear of aversive event, such as shock, but may be explained in terms of stress induction. The persistence of the finickiness effect for the 4 days of testing supports the interpretation that finickiness reflects a long-lasting associative component of helplessness.