Taste Aversion through Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning states that learning is a gradual process, that it is not possible for a subject to be classically condition in only one trial. However, if you eat something and become sick from it, there is a very good probability that you will develop a strong distaste for that food. This effect is known as taste aversion, which has brought up many questions about classical conditioning.
It was Garcia and Koelling (1966) who studied the level of conditioning in rats using two conditioned stimulus (CS), an audiovisual stimulus and a salty flavor added to drinking water. The two unconditioned stimulus (UCS), a mild foot-shock and a nausea-producing drug. In the conditioning phase of this experiment, the two CSs (salty flavored and the audiovisual stimulus) always occurred at the same time and were presented to the rats equally. One group of rats received a UCS with a nausea-producing substance in the drinking water (lithium chloride). Another group of rats were shocked in the foot as a UCS 2 seconds after drinking the water (Garcia & Koelling as sited Walker 1995).
After many conditioning trials, each rat was tested with each of the two CSs taken separately. In one trial the rats were given access to tasty water, salty flavored water with out the audiovisual CS. In another trial, the rats were given access to "bright noisy water" as stated by Garcia and Koelling: unflavored drinking water that had the audiovisual CS present. If there is an aversion to the stimulus of the foot-shock of the nausea-producing drug then the rats will have become conditioned to the CS. Both UCSs produced an aversion a particular CS; the foot-shock produced a strong aversion to the audiovisu...
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...eous recovery when presented during the test. In this case, the attempt to reduce spontaneous recovery of a conditioned taste aversion is not supported as well as increasing the strength of a conditioned taste aversion.
Taste Aversion has offered theoretical insight, which have practical applications (Walker 1995). For instance, the idea of taste aversion has been utilized by attempting to control the predatory habits of coyotes in the United States. It was found that after feeding the coyotes with the flesh of a lamb treated with lithium chloride, coyotes then were less likely to attack lambs (Walker 1995).
Further studies of taste aversion can be beneficial because of the possible applications it may offer, perhaps some techniques in treating such problems as alcoholism (Walker 1995) or to better understand the environment's affect on animal and human behavior.
Research on taste aversion in rats led to the discovery that suppression of the immune system can be influenced by:
Modern human brain sizes are significantly smaller than Neanderthal’s and so are their brain cavities. TAS2R38 is the gene that controls taste. For Neanderthals, having a bitter taste “system” could have kept them from poisoning themselves by accident.
Yeomans, Martin R. "Understanding Individual Differences in Acquired Flavour Liking in Humans." Chemosensory Perception 3.1 (2010): 34-41. Print.
The study by Watson and Rayner was to further the research of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was a Russian physiologist whose most famous experiments involved that of animals, specifically the unconditioned and conditioned reflexes of canines, in reference to salivation and conditioned emotional response. Pavlov demonstrated that if a bell was rang each time a dog was fed; ultimately the animal would befall conditioned to salivate at just the sound of the bell, even where food is was no longer present (The Salivation reflex). Watson and Rayner set out to further the research of conditioned stimulus response, with little Albert. ‘These authors without adequate experimental evidence advanced the view that this range was increased by means of conditioned reflex factors.’ (B.Watson, R Rayner , 1920).
Phenylthiocarbamide is used to test tasting phenotype and genotypes. In 1931 a hypothesis was formulated stating that at least one bitter receptor is sensitive to PTC but is also inactive in some individuals [Newcomb R.D, 2012]. PTC concentration paper of different concentration was used in this experiment to test the ability to taste PTC amongst genetic lab students. DNA was extracted from cheek cells, amplified with PCR and digested with HaeIII.
Stage 3: After Conditioning. Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned stimulus (US) to create a new conditioned response (CR).” (McLoed. 2008)
Classical conditioning refers to a type of learning in which a previously neutral stimuli took on the ability to stimulate a conditioned response in an individual (Gormezano & Moore, 1966). To prove that environment was more impactful than genetics, Watson conducted an experiment on an infant, little Albert. Initially, Albert showed little fear towards rats. When Watson repeatedly exposed Albert to the rat accompanied by a loud noise, the latter began to develop fear towards not just the rat but also other furry animals. Watson successfully showed that the acquisition of a phobia can be explained by classical conditioning (Watson & Watson, 1921). Regardless of their genes, the associations of the right stimuli can result in the development of a new behaviour in any individual.
Classical Conditioning was a phenomenon that a man named Ivan Pavlov explored in the twentieth-century. His work laid the foundation for many other psychologists such as John Watson. Pavlov’s idea came when he seized on an incidental observation. He noticed putting food in a dogs mouth caused salvation. However, the dog not only salivated to the food it began to also salivate to mere sight of the food, or the food dish. He began experimenting; first he slid the food presented the food by sliding the food bowl and blowing meat powder into the dogs mouth at the same exact moment. They paired it with a neutral stimuli event the dog could see but did not associate it with food (Myers, 2014, p.256). Food in the mouth automatically, unconditionally triggers the salivary reflex. Pavlov called drooling the unconditioned response and the food the unconditioned stimulus. Salvation in response to a tone is learned, it is conditioned upon the dogs associating the tone with the food it is called conditioned response (Myers, 2014, p.256). The stimulus that used to be neutral is the conditioned stimulus. I found it interesting and relating to everyday life because my dog often does the same. We keep his food in the garage so opening the garage door would be the conditioned stimulus. As soon as the garage door opens my dog begins to salivate which is the conditioned response. Whereas,
Omnivores are very interesting creatures. We are able to digest most plants and animals and therefore have a wide range of food available to us. However, when faced with new potential foods we are “torn between two conflicting emotions” (Pollan 288). These two emotions are neophilia and neophobia. Pollan defines neophilia as “a risky but necessary openness to new tastes” (288) and neophobia as “a sensible fear of ingesting anything new” (288). These two emotions are easily seen in humans, especially myself. Whenever I am introduced to a new food I immediately feel both of these. I am very tempted to try the new food since it might taste good, but on the other hand it may not taste good and may even give me a stomach-ache or food poisoning. The final decision when trying a new food usually depends on how it looks. In Rozin’s studies, he observed these two emotions in rats. The rats would nibble on the new food and wait to see if it affected them negatively, learning not to eat it if it hurt them. Pollan believed that Rozi...
We used the Sniffy the virtual rat Pro Version 3.0 program by Wadsworth Cengage Learning. This program attempts to accurately simulate some of the psychological processes and behavioral phenomena found in rats. In this program, all of the subjects are always starved for food, regardless of how much it has eaten. This simplifies the process of operant conditioning by reducing the amount of time required to simply wait for the virtual rat to be hungry again.
Ivan Pavlov developed a theory called classical conditioning which proposes that learning process occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex like associating the food with the bell in Pavlov experiment. In classical conditioning, behavior is learnt by association where a stimulus that was originally neutral can become a trigger for substance use or cravings due to repeated associations between those stimuli and substance use (Pavlov, 1927).
I did not realize I had a taste aversion until I read chapter 7 in Exploring Psychology starting on page 257. Taste aversion is explained as becoming violently ill after eating, tasting or drinking a consumable item
Although arguments could be made for the influence of operant conditioning on disordered eating, classical conditioning is assumed to a major component in the development of maladaptive eating behaviors (Greeno & Wing, 1994; Jansen, 1998). Empirical evidences supports classical conditioning models of eating desires. For instance, Van Gucht et al. (2008) tested the ability to condition serving trays (i.e., neutral stimuli) of different shapes and colors to elicit chocolate cravings. Conditioning consisted of three phases:
Classical conditioning also called as Pavlovian conditioning or respondent conditioning. It is a kind of learning a new behavior through association that when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) and evokes a conditioned response (CR). It also is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus (Cherry, 2014). Classical conditioning has much strength such as can help to explain all aspects of human behavior and many of advertisers will use classical conditioning to advertise their produces, however it also have some weaknesses such as all classical conditioning responses must involve a reflex and classical conditioning is a completely physical process, learning is not important as reflected in scenario. This paper will talk about the strengths and the weaknesses of classical conditioning theory followed by a brief description of the scenario and the strengths and weaknesses of applying classical conditioning on it.
Flavor is based on a combination of factors. These factors include taste, smell, texture, and temperature. The following experiment’s main focus is the flavor of food based on the combination of smell and taste. Have you ever pinched your nose while eating and noticed that you can’t taste your food? In this report you will learn how the nose and tongue work together to create flavor. Your sense of smell and sense of taste are very important when deciding the flavor of food.The tongue and nose influence each other more than you may think.