Abstract
The development of a conditioned taste aversion to a novel food was examined in the Mongolian gerbil. Ingestion of an orange-flavored sucrose solution was followed by intraperitoneal injections of 3 ml/100 g body weight.15 M LiCl, 4 ml/100 g body weight.15 M LiCl, or 3 ml/100 g body weight physiological saline. Two-bottle preference tests between the sucrose solution and water showed that LiCl-injected animals had developed an aversion to the sucrose solution, consuming a significantly smaller percentage of the solution than saline-injected animals. The aversion was maintained for at least 2 weeks following the injection of LiCl. The results extend the conditioned taste aversion phenomenon to another species and stress the importance of this type of learning in the survival of the animal in its natural habitat.
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George H. Collier sponsors this paper and takes full editorial responsibility for its content. This study was supported by Grant NS 01941 from the National Institutes of Health and by the Fund for Research and Teaching, Department of Nutrition, Harvard University.
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Kanarek, R.B., Adams, K.S. & Mayer, J. Conditioned taste aversion in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus ). Bull. Psychon. Soc. 6, 303–305 (1975). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336670
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336670