Effects of Inflation on Taste-Potentiaton of Taste Aversion
Abstract
In 3 experiments with rat subjects, a taste-taste compound composed of saccharin and
denatonium saccharide (SAC+DEN) previously shown to support taste-potentiated taste aversion
(TPTA) was used to test the predictions of the within-compound association model.
Additionally, the effects of inflation of the individual elements within a taste-taste compound on
aversion strength to the complementary element were investigated. Specifically, Experiment 1
was conducted to establish whether a longer CS-US interval than used in previous studies and a
weaker LiCl concentration are sufficient for producing TPTA. Experiments 2 and 3 used
complementary designs to investigate the inflation of DEN and SAC, respectively, on aversion
strength of the complementary element after SAC+ DEN compound conditioning. It was
predicted that inflation of DEN would cause an increased aversion to SAC, whereas SAC
inflation would overshadow an aversion to DEN. Results indicated that the addition of a second
conditioning trial has an effect on TPTA. Additionally, contradictory results were found in
Experiments 2 and 3 with regard to the role of inflation in aversion learning. In Experiment 2,
inflation of DEN after compound conditioning with SAC+DEN increased SAC aversion relative
to a control group, indicating that inflation helps strengthen aversions in compounds. However,
in Experiment 3, inflation of SAC after compound conditioning with SAC+DEN did not
significantly effect the aversion to.DEN relative to a control group. These results are discussed in
terms of the differences between the present study and previous research that may have caused
the unexpected findings, and in terms of the different theories that may explain TPTA.