Psychology Chapter 22: Taste Aversion Learning

Questions and Answers

What is taste aversion learning?

Association of all stimuli equally

Conditioning that occurs with long CS-US intervals (correct)

Avoiding flavors associated with fast-acting poisons (correct)

Learning mechanisms evolved to deal with specific problems (correct)

What happens during one-trial learning in rats?

Salient CS conditions quickly but aversion extinguishes and can show spontaneous recovery.

Long-delay learning confirms that stimulus relevance affects conditioning.

True

In the learned safety experiment, what was the outcome of the groups?

Preexposure to a food slowed down the learning of conditioned inhibition. Signup and view all the answers

What is a hedonic shift in the context of taste aversion?

It changes the pleasure derived from certain foods, like developing a negative reaction to sucrose. Signup and view all the answers

What is compound potentiation?

Smell and taste paired with illness result in strong aversion. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Taste Aversion Learning

Conditioning can occur with long intervals between conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US).
Certain stimuli, such as flavors associated with toxins, are more readily linked in learning.
Evolution may have favored mechanisms that help animals avoid slow-acting poisons through taste aversion.

One-Trial Learning

Taste aversion requires only one pairing to form, leading to rapid learning.
Extinction of aversion occurs, with no aversion present the next day, but recovery may happen after 28 days.
Salient conditioned stimuli (CS) are learned quickly, indicating taste aversion is not unique among learning processes.

Long-Delay Learning

In the presence of stimulus relevance, rats can encounter interfering stimuli during delay periods affecting conditioning.
This form of learning does not set taste aversion learning apart from other types of conditioning.

Learned Safety

Rats exposed to sucrose paired with lithium chloride develop strong aversion, while those exposed to sucrose with saline do not develop aversion, demonstrating the role of inhibitors.
Simple prior exposure does not guarantee learned safety; preexposure to an inhibitory substance can actually impede the ability to learn conditioned inhibition.

Hedonic Shift

Hedonic shift alters the perception of pleasure derived from specific foods, leading rats to develop negative responses to formerly preferred flavors like sucrose.
A two-phase experiment showed that even after habituating to the unconditioned stimulus (US), the conditioned stimulus (CS) still evoked a negative reaction, suggesting CS palatability changes are distinctive in taste aversion.

Compound Potentiation

In an experiment involving odor and taste, rats conditioned with both developed strong aversions to the odor when tested later, despite the flavor being absent.
The salience of the potentiated cue is critical in establishing this aversion; however, the phenomenon of potentiation is not specific to taste aversion, as it can occur across other conditioning forms.

Description

Explore the fascinating concept of taste aversion learning in this quiz. Discover how conditioning can occur over long intervals and the evolutionary implications of food associations. Uncover the learning processes that help animals avoid certain flavors linked to danger.