Sucrose produces conditioned place preference when the sweetener is delivered immediately before confmement in the place preference box. To evaluate the role of the oral and gastric effects of sucrose, rats were allowed to drink sucrose or were given sucrose or water intragastrically by gavage. The rats developed a preference in all cases in which the reinforcing event was delivered 3 min 30 sec before confmement, but not when an interval of 15 min was used. Contiguity between reinforcing event and conditioning is of importance. In an additional experiment, we tried to replicate the effect obtained with plain water and evaluated the role of cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors. Before water administration, the rats were subcutaneously injected with saline, devazepide (0.01 mg/kg) , or L-365,260 (0.01 mg/kg). Only the group treated with devazepide showed significant place preference. CCK A receptor blockade seems to enhance the reward value of gastric distension, and distension alone appears to be an unreliable reinforcing event.Ingestive behaviors are associated with a multitude of physiological reactions. The sight and smell of food activate digestive processes that anticipate the arrival of food in the gut (Brand, Cagan, & Nairn, 1982). These responses are further reinforced by taste stimuli and by the activation of mechanoreceptors in the esophagus and, eventually, in the stomach (Fantino, 1984). Food is then digested and absorbed, producing several modifications in the composition of blood. One of these changes is an increase in the concentration of cholecystokinin (CCK;