Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to investigate conditioned aversion to the odor of phenylacetic acid in the male Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). In Experiment 1, 60 subjects were exposed to a cotton swab coated with phenylacetic acid placed in the center of a 1-m-square open field for two 5-min sessions 48 h apart. Half of the subjects received an injection of LiCl immediately after Session 1, while the rest received saline. The LiCl subjects quickly learned to avoid the phenylacetic acid in Session 2, as demonstrated by significantly (p <.01) lower investigation time and frequency of approach, and longer latency to contact. In Experiment 2, 30 subjects were exposed to a clean cotton swab, and did not show any conditioned aversion. This research demonstrated that the conditioned aversion paradigm can be extended to olfactory aversion to phenylacetic acid in male gerbils.
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This research was supported by a faculty research grant from the Ohio State University College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The author would like to thank Debby Merritt for assistance in the data collection. Portions of the data were presented at the 1979 meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago.
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Pettijohn, T.F. Conditioned olfactory aversion in the male Mongolian gerbil. Psychobiology 7, 299–302 (1979). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326645
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326645