| Abstract: | Two experiments, with 15 male albino rats, investigated whether discrete auditory conditioned stimulus/stimuli (CS) that signal the availability or onset of taste unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS) (sucrose, quinine) can control orofacial responses in the absence of those UCSs. In Exp I, one auditory stimulus (CS+) was paired with the delivery of a sucrose solution to the magazine floor, and another auditory stimulus (CS–) was never followed by sucrose. Following conditioning, oral infusions of water that were preceded by the CS+ were found to elicit more ingestive (sucrose-typical) orofacial responses than did water alone or water preceded by the CS–. In Exp II, the conditioned ingestive reactions to a signal for sucrose observed in Exp I again occurred, and conditioned aversive (quinine-typical) orofacial responses occurred in response to water infusions preceded by a former signal for quinine. Data suggest that perceived palatability may be influenced by Pavlovian associations involving exteroceptive CSs and illustrate the importance of supporting stimuli in modulating the effects of Pavlovian associations on behavior. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
