Role of ingestion in odor-toxicosis learning in the rat.

Conducted 2 experiments with 32 and 34 male Charles River albino rats, in which Ss evidenced aversions to an odor paired with toxicosis in both drinking and exploratory behavior tests. Ingestion during odor-toxicosis conditioning in Exp I resulted in stronger aversions only in tests involving drinking the same solution as had been ingested during training, despite the absence of enhanced aversions to the flavor of the solution used. This result is interpreted as evidence that Ss drinking during conditioning acquired aversions not only to the CS odor but also to additional cues arising from an interaction of the CS odor and the flavor of the ingested solution. Exp II showed that these interaction cues were not the result of a flavor imparted to the ingested substance by dissolved molecules of the odorizing agent. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual dimorphism in the social proximity behavior of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Previous research by the present authors (see record 1986-16367-001) showed that after opportunity for copulation, male Japanese quail spent about 75% of their time throughout daylight hours near a window that provided visual access to a female conspecific. In Exp I of the present study, 8 female Japanese quail typically spent less than 20% of their time near a window that provided visual access to 1 of 8 male conspecifics under comparable conditions. In Exp II, using the same Ss, a small clear plastic cage was placed in a large test arena, and Ss were observed when the cage was either empty or contained a sexual partner. Males tended to remain much closer to the cage when it contained a female conspecific than when it was empty. In contrast, the presence of a male did not significantly attract females to the cage area. These findings demonstrate strong sexual dimorphism in the social proximity behavior of Japanese quail. Results are discussed in terms of implications concerning the social structure of Japanese quail and implications for studies of sexual classical conditioning. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative Contributions of the Male and the Female to Sexual Behavior and Reproductive Success in the Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica).

Two contrasting investigative techniques provided evidence consistent with the interpretation that female quail (Coturnix japonica) regulate male copulatory behavior by the duration of their immobility and through this behavioral mechanism they also control the rate of fertilization of their eggs. In Experiment 1, copulation tests with males and females from different genetic lines showed that the type of female that participated in a copulatory test significantly influenced the latency of the male's grab, mount, and cloacal contact responses and also determined the efficiency of the male's copulatory behavior. These measures of male performance were correlated with female immobility in Experiment 2, which used a more homogeneous population of quail. Furthermore, 2 of these measures (copulatory efficiency and the latency to make cloacal contact) were correlated with fertilization rate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Teaching about animal research in psychology": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by M. Domjan and J. E. Purdy (American Psychologist, 1996 [Jul], Vol 51[7], 736–737). Portions of the text were inadvertently omitted in the production process; the comment is presented in its entirety. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in PA, Vol 83:32272.). Responds to P. F. Cunningham's (see record 83:32271) and S. D. Gosling's (see record 1995-45383-001) study of the acknowledgment of contributions of animal experimentation in leading introductory psychology textbooks. The authors agree with Gosling that the primary goal of the general psychology course is to facilitate the students' understanding of psychology and that animal research is not presented in an educationally effective fashion in general psychology textbooks. However, it is argued that students need to know not only the conclusions of research but also something about how the research was conducted. In response to Cunningham's contention that psychology instructors will have to address why research animals are kept under stressful laboratory conditions, the authors note that psychology experiments typically do not involve deadly diseases or experimental pathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective associations in one-day-old rats: Taste–toxicosis and texture–shock aversion learning.

Three experiments investigated cue-consequence specificity and long-delay learning in 187 1-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats and determined whether selective associations are accompanied by long-delay learning early in life. Ss learned aversions to a novel taste paired with Li-induced distress and to a tactile stimulus paired with brief electric shocks. However, aversions did not develop when taste was paired with shock or when the tactile stimulus was paired with Li treatment. The aversions occurred only when Li treatment immediately followed taste exposure and when shock was concurrent with exposure to the tactile stimulus. Findings indicate that selective associations in aversion learning are mediated by innate mechanisms that govern conditioning in the absence of extensive ontogenetic experience and show that selective associations are not sufficient for the occurrence of long-delay learning. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in the sexual conditioned behavior of male and female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).

The conditioned responses of male and female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) were compared in a Pavlovian conditioning procedure in which presentation of a brief conditioned stimulus was immediately followed by the release of a copulation partner. Male quail vigorously approached the conditioned stimulus and were much more likely to enter the compartment housing their copulation partner than were female birds (Experiment 1). In females, sexual conditioning resulted in increased squatting (Experiment 2). This response was the reflection of sexual behavior rather than more general social behavior (Experiment 3). These findings provide the first definitive evidence of sexual learning in female quail and are consistent with the interpretation that sexual conditioning increases sexual arousal or receptivity in both sexes but the increase has different behavioral manifestations in male and female quail. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior in male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

In 3 studies, a localized visual stimulus presented immediately prior to access to a female conspecific stimulated approach behavior in male Japanese quail after several conditioning trials. Development of this conditioned approach behavior was observed with 2 types of signal lights, 10- and 30-sec signal durations, large and small experimental chambers, and with male Ss housed continually in the conditioning chambers or only placed in the chamber for brief daily sessions. Conditioning also resulted in shorter latencies to initiate copulation in males given access to a female following the signal light, in comparison with males that received access to a female unannounced by the light. Although some aspects of the conditioning experience were retained over a 6-wk interval, some loss of the behavior was also observed. The conditioned behavior also decreased with repeated extinction trials, during which the signal light was presented in the absence of access to a female conspecific. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus control of copulatory behavior in sexually naive male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica): Effects of test context and stimulus movement.

Sexually experienced male quail (Coturnix japonica) are more likely to engage in copulatory behavior than sexually naive ones. These experiments suggest that sexual experience in a particular place may facilitate later copulatory responding because of increased familiarity with the contextual cues of the environment. Male quail in Exp 1 did not copulate reliably with taxidermic models of females in a novel context, even though some of the subjects were allowed to copulate with female quail in their home cages. In contrast, sexually naive males in Exps 2 and 3 copulated vigorously with taxidermic models of females in a familiar context. In Exp 4, sexually naive males tested in an unfamiliar context were more likely to copulate with a moving than with a static model. The stimulus control of copulatory behavior in sexually naive male quail was similar to that in sexually experienced ones but only in familiar contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Topography of sexually conditioned behavior in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the CS–US interval.

The interval between exposure to a CS to male quail and access to a female (the unconditioned stimulus [UCS]) was varied from 0.5 to 20 min using a Pavlovian delayed conditioning procedure. Increasing the CS–UCS interval altered the spatial distribution of sexual conditioned behavior. With a short CS–UCS interval (1 min), conditioning resulted in the Ss remaining close to the CS and increasing their locomotor behavior near the CS. With a long CS–UCS interval (20 min), the Ss approached the CS to some degree, but their locomotor behavior was increased in areas farther removed from the CS. Results are interpreted within the context of a behavior systems approach to the study of learning and indicate that the typical finding of an inverse relation between conditioned responding and the CS–UCS interval may be an artifact of the use of a limited range or behavioral measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aversion learning in 5-day-old rats: Taste–toxicosis and texture–shock associations.

Five-day-old Holtzman rats that received a single pairing of a novel saccharin flavor (NF) with lithium (Li) treatment learned to suppress ingestion of saccharin on subsequent occasions (Exp I). This NF aversion (AV) learning was inversely related to the interval (IN) between the NF experience and drug administration, with significant AVs being learned with INs of 0 and 30 min but not with INs of 60 and 90 min (Exp II). Conditioning was observed when hypertonic Li served as the UCS but not with isotonic Li or hypertonic saline injections (Exp III). AV learning in infant Ss was shown to be a result of the joint action of 2 factors—pure drug effects and the somatic pain and irritation produced by the tonicity of the injected agent. Taste AV learning was specific to the drug-paired NF, and evidence is presented suggesting that 5-day-old rats display a natural hesitancy to consume novel edibles (neophobia) (Exp IV). In Exp V, 5-day-old Ss selectively associated NF stimuli with the gastrointestinal consequences of Li injection but not with cutaneous shock and selectively associated tactile stimuli with shock but not with the gastrointestinal consequences of Li. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)