Pre-Irradiation Saccharin Habituation: A Factor in Avoidance Behavior

Abstract

Seven groups each with eight albino rats were habituated to a 0.1% sodium saccharin solution for either 8, 4, 2, 1, or 0 days prior to x-irradiation or sham-irradiation. The saccharin habituated groups showed a significant decrease in the degree of conditioned saccharin avoidance response as compared with the non-habituated group, but the degree of avoidance response was still significantly different from that of the sham-irradiated group. A group given water to drink prior to irradiation showed no significant difference in post-irradiation saccharin avoidance from the group given saccharin to drink. The results support previous evidence that prior experience with the CS (saccharin solution) significantly affects the intensity of the conditioned saccharin avoidance response in the trace conditioning paradigm using x-irradiation as the US, and also support previous work indicating that avoidance behavior to a preferred solution can be obtained without presentation of this solution prior to or during the radiation exposure.

Demonstrations of neophobia and enhanced neophobia in the albino rat.

“…The conditioned water aversion found in this study agrees with previous findings (Garcia & Koelling, 1967;Nachman, 1970;Nachman & Jones, 1974). However, others have shown that conditioning with nonnovel solutions resulted in weakened or attenuated taste aversions (Elkins, 1973;Farley, McLaurin, Scarborough, & Rawlings, 1964;McLaurin, Farley, & Scarborough, 1963;Revusky & Bedarf, 1967).…”

Effects of number of pre‐exposures on sucrose taste aversion in weanling rats

“…In this experiment the data of relative sucrose intake and of sucrose preference reliably showed that pre-exposures to sucrose prior t o toxicosis attenuated taste aversion effects in rats 20 days old. The finding of graded pre-exposure effects in the weanlings is consistent with some data reported for adult rats ( e g , Elkins, 1973;Fenwick ef a/., 1975) but contrasts with other results which showed nondifferential pre-exposure effects with adults (e.g., Farley, McLaurin, Scarborough, & Rawlings, 1964;Kalat & Rozin, 1973). The basis for the discrepancy between the present results and those of Farley etal.…”

“…The finding of graded pre-exposure effects in the weanlings is consistent with some data reported for adult rats ( e g , Elkins, 1973;Fenwick ef a/., 1975) but contrasts with other results which showed nondifferential pre-exposure effects with adults (e.g., Farley, McLaurin, Scarborough, & Rawlings, 1964;Kalat & Rozin, 1973). The basis for the discrepancy between the present results and those of Farley etal.…”

Reacquisition of learned taste aversions

“…The purpose of Phase 4 was to insure that, at the time of reconditioning in Phase 5, Group Fam-tox would have had as much recent experience with saccharin as Group Ext-tox. Familiarity of a flavor and the recency of this familiarity are important factors in flavor aversion learning (Farley, McLaurin, Scarborough, & Rawlings, 1964) and hence should be made similar for the two groups. Of course, because Phases 1 and 4 were added to the Fam-tox procedure, corresponding phases were added to the Ext-tox procedure.…”