Factors determining the effects of associative activation on habituation.
In 2 experiments, rats received flavor-aversion conditioning with two flavors, B and C, to which they had been preexposed. In both experiments, C was preexposed in compound with another flavor in a block of CX trials. In Experiment 1, B was presented in compound with Y, and BY trials were alternated with presentations of Y alone. In Experiment 2, B was presented in compound with X, and BX trials were alternated with presentations of X alone. No difference was detected in Experiment 1 between B and C in the ease with which they conditioned, but in Experiment 2 it was found that B conditioned more readily than C. This latter result is consistent with the hypothesis that experience with the associate of a target stimulus can act to maintain the effective salience of that stimulus; however, the results of Experiment 1 challenge this interpretation or indicate the operation of other factors that limit the effectiveness of this salience modulation process.
Department of Psychology, University of York, York, England. g.hall@psych.york.ac.uk
Geoffrey
G
Hall
Gabriel
G
Rodriguez
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D018692:Antimanic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018021:Lithium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D018692:Antimanic Agents; D005421:Flavoring Agents; D018021:Lithium Chloride