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Abstract

Three experiments examined how a flavour modified the development of aversions to the place in which it was presented and paired with a reinforcer. Experiment 1 confirmed the cue-to-consequence effect: rats made sick after exposure to a flavour in a novel place (Skinner boxes) displayed stronger aversions than shocked animals when they were presented with the flavour in a second, familiar place; rats shocked after exposure to water acquired stronger place aversions than animals made sick. Experiment 2 confirmed the potentiation effect: rats made sick after exposure to the flavour developed stronger place aversions than those made sick after ingestion of water. This experiment also revealed that rats shocked after exposure to the flavour likewise acquired stronger place aversions than the animals shocked after ingestion of water. Experiment 3 replicated this flavour potentiation of place aversions based on shock. The results are not consistent with Garcia, Lasiter, Bermudez-Rottoni, & Deems’ (1985) account of how a flavour interacts with an aversive reinforcer to modify what is learned about its associates in a compound.

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Potentiation by a novel flavour of conditioned place aversions based on both toxicosis and shock

Abstract

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