title: Retention of context blocking in taste-aversion learning.
abstract: A series of experiments examined recovery from context blocking across a retention interval. In two flavor-aversion studies, rats received 0, 2, or 4 context + US pairings in Phase 1, a flavor + US pairing in Phase 2, and flavor testing after a 3-day or a 14-day retention interval. The procedures in Experimental 1 were performed in a novel context, whereas Experiment 2 was conducted in a moderately familiar context. In Experiment 1, the effects of 2 context + US pairing dissipated over the retention interval (i.e., the taste aversion increased in strength), but the effects of 4 context + US pairings did not change. In Experiment 2, no context blocking was observed after 2 context + US pairings, but the effects of 4 context + US pairings decreased across the retention interval. These studies are the first to show recovery from context blocking across a retention interval following single-element conditioning. Furthermore, Experiment 3 demonstrated that extinction of the context prior to taste conditioning eliminated context blocking, and Experiment 4 showed that weak taste aversions do not increase in strength across a retention interval. It is proposed that forgetting of the context-US association across an extended retention interval is the mechanism underlying recovery from context blocking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA. rbatsell@mail.smu.edu
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Batsell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012439:Saccharin / Q000494:pharmacology; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012439:Saccharin