Abstract
Taste aversions were conditioned by exposing subjects to a 1.0% saccharin solution 30 min after an injection of lithium chloride. The aversion learning was disrupted if subjects had also received an additional lithium injection some time earlier (Experiments 1–3). This interference effect of US preexposure was a decreasing function of the preexposure interval, beyond the optimal interval (105 min) for observing the phenomenon (Experiment 1), and was directly related to the dose of the preexposure injection (Experiment 2). No interference with conditioning occurred at short (e.g., 30-min) preexposure intervals (Experiment 1), probably because under these circumstances the preexposure injection itself conditioned a strong aversion (Experiment 4). At moderate (105-min) but not at short (30-min) preexposure intervals, the interference with aversions learned as a result of taste exposure following drug injection was comparable to the interference with learning in a more conventional forward conditioning procedure (Experiments 3 and 4). These findings are similar to previously documented effects of proximal CS- and US-preexposure and are consistent with recent stimulus rehearsal and opponent-process theories.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barker, L. M., &Smith, J. C. A comparison of taste aversions induced by radiation and lithium chloride in CS-US and US-CS paradigms.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1974,87, 644–654.
Best, M. R., &Gemberling, G. A. Role of short-term processes in the conditioned stimulus preexposure effect and the delay of reinforcement gradient in long-delay taste-aversion learning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 1977,3, 253–263.
Braveman, N. S. What studies on preexposure to pharmacological agents tell us about the nature of the aversion-inducing treatment. In L. M. Barker, M. R. Best, & M. Domjan (Eds.),Learning mechanisms in food selection. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 1977.
Cannon, D. S., Berman, R. F., Baker, T. B., &Atkinson, C. A. Effect of preconditioning unconditioned stimulus experience on learned taste aversions.Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Behavior Processes, 1975,1, 270–284.
Cappell, H., &LeBlanc, A. E. Conditioned aversion by amphetamine: Rates of acquisition and loss of the attenuating effects of prior exposure.Psychopharmacologia, 1975,43, 157–162.
Domjan, M CS preexposure in taste-aversion learning Effects of deprivation and preexposure durationLearning and Motivation, 1972,3, 389–402
Domjan, M. Selective suppression of drinking during a limited period following aversive drug treatment in rats.Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Behavior Processes, 1977,3, 66–76.
Domjan, M., &Best, M. R. Paradoxical effects of proximal unconditioned stimulus preexposure Interference with and conditioning of a taste aversionJournal of Experimental Psychology Animal Behavior Processes, 1977,3, 310–321.
Domjan, M., &Gregg, B. Long-delay backward taste-aversion conditioning with lithium.Physiology and Behavior, 1977,18, 59–62.
Domjan, M., Schorr, R., &Best, M. R. Early environmental influences on conditioned and unconditioned igestional and locomotor behaviors.Developmental Psvchobiology, 1977,10, 499–506.
Gamzu, E. The multifaceted nature of taste-aversion-inducing agents: Is there a single common factor? In L. M. Barker, M. R. Best, & M. Domjan (Eds.),Learning mechanisms in food selection. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 1977
Lubow, R. E. Latent inhibition.Psychological Bulletin, 1973,79, 398–407.
Mikulka, P. J., Leard, B., &,Klein, S. B. Illness-alone exposure as a source of interference with the acquisition and retention of a taste aversion.Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Behavior Processes, 1977,3, 189–201.
Riley, A. L., Jacobs, W. J., &LoLordo, V. M. Drug exposure and acquisition and retention of a conditioned taste aversion.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1976,90, 799–807.
Rudy, J. W., Iwens, J., &Best, P. J. Pairing novel exteroceptive cues and illness reduces illness-induced taste aversions.Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Behavior Processes, 1977,3, 14–25
Siegel, S., &Domjan, M. Backward conditioning as an inhibitory procedure.Learning and Motivation, 1971,2, 1–11.
Solomon, R. L., &Corbit, J. D. An opponent-process theory of motivation: I. Temporal dynamics of affect.Psychological Review, 1974,81, 119–145.
Terry, W. S. Effects of priming unconditioned stimulus representation in short-term memory on Pavlovian conditioning.Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Behavior Processes, 1976,2, 354–369.
Vogel, J. R., &Nathan, B. A. Reduction of learned taste aversion by preexposure to drugs.Psychopharmacologia, 1976,49, 167–172.
Wagner, A. R. Priming in STM: An information processing mechanism for self-generated or retrieval-generated depression in performance. In T. J. Tighe & R. N. Leaton (Eds.).Habituation Perspectives from child development, animal behavior, and neurophysiology Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum, 1976.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The research was supported by Grant BNS 77-01552 from the National Science Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Domjan, M. Effects of proximal unconditioned stimulus preexposure on ingestional aversions learned as a result of taste presentation following drug treatment. Animal Learning & Behavior 6, 133–142 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209591
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209591