Questions and Answers
Describe or diagram an example of taste aversion conditioning.
In taste aversion conditioning, a rat is given sweet-tasting water and then made to feel sick. After recovering, it prefers normal water over sweet water due to the association of sweet water with illness.
Outline three ways in which taste aversion conditioning differs from most other forms of classical conditioning.
- Formation of associations over long delays. 2) One trial conditioning. 3) Specificity of associations.
Define instinctive drift.
Instinctive drift is a phenomenon where genetically based fixed action patterns gradually emerge and displace operantly conditioned behavior.
Give an example of instinctive drift.
Signup and view all the answers
Define sign tracking.
Signup and view all the answers
Provide an example of sign tracking.
Signup and view all the answers
Define adjunctive behavior.
Signup and view all the answers
What is schedule-induced polydipsia?
Signup and view all the answers
What is a displacement activity?
Signup and view all the answers
What is activity anorexia?
Signup and view all the answers
Study Notes
Taste Aversion Conditioning
- Involves pairing a preferred food, like sweet water, with illness to create aversion.
- Following recovery, the rat chooses normal water over sweet water, indicating that the sweet water has become a conditioned aversive stimulus.
- Associations can form even with long delays between food consumption and sickness, unlike typical classical conditioning that relies on close timing.
- One trial is often sufficient to create a strong conditioned taste aversion.
- Specificity of associations is evident; certain stimuli are more readily connected in the brain due to innate tendencies (CS-US relevance).
Instinctive Drift and Sign Tracking
- Instinctive drift occurs when innate behaviors displace learned operant behaviors, as observed when pigs display rooting behaviors instead of depositing coins for food.
- Sign tracking involves an organism approaching a stimulus that signals an appetitive event, akin to classical conditioning, such as a dog salivating and displaying food-seeking behaviors toward a light cue before food delivery.
Adjunctive Behavior
- Excessive behaviors, known as adjunctive behavior, arise as by-products of intermittent reinforcement schedules.
- Schedule-induced polydipsia in rats is characterized by excessive water drinking when lever-pressing for food is reinforced intermittently.
- Displacement activities occur when animals engage in irrelevant behaviors due to conflict or frustration.
- Benefits include encouraging diverse behaviors in situations and allowing animals to remain in an environment where reinforcement might eventually be accessible.
Activity Anorexia
- Defined as heightened activity levels and reduced food intake, often resulting from restricted feeding schedules.
- Experimentally induced in rats by limiting food access to a short daily window while providing continuous access to a running wheel, leading to increased running behavior over time.
Studying That Suits You
Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.
Description
This quiz explores key concepts in taste aversion conditioning, highlighting how organisms form aversions to food based on illness experiences. It also covers instinctive drift and sign tracking, illustrating the interaction between innate behaviors and learned responses in operant conditioning.