Abstract
A rat’s preference for food of a given flavor can be substantially enhanced by allowing it to interact with a conspecificdemonstrator that has recently eaten food of that flavor. The heuristic value of treating such socially induced enhancement of flavor preference as an instance of Pavlovian conditioning was examined in three experiments. Conceiving of the smell of the food as a conditional stimulus and other cues emanating from the demonstrator rat as an unconditional stimulus, we determined whether each of three common Pavlovian phenomena-blocking, overshadowing, and latent inhibition-would occur. Using experimental parameters that readily produce socially induced enhancement of flavor preference, none of the three Pavlovian phenomena were found.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balaz, M. A., Kasprow, W. J., &Miller, R. R. (1982). Blocking with a single compound trial.Animal Learning & Behavior,10, 271–276.
Corey, D. T. (1978). The determinants of exploration and neophobia.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews,2, 235–253.
Dickinson, A., Nicholas, D. J., &Mackintosh, N. J. (1983). A reexamination of one-trial blocking in conditioned suppression.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,35B, 67–79.
Domjan, M. (1980). Ingestional aversion learning: Unique and general processes. In J. S. Rosenblatt, R. A. Hinde, C. Beer, & M. C. Busnel (Eds.),Advances in the study of behavior: Vol. 11 (pp. 276–337). New York: Academic Press.
Durlach, P. J., &Rescorla, R. A. (1980). Potentiation rather than overshadowing in flavor aversion learning: An analysis in terms of within-compound associations.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,6, 175–187.
Galef, B. G., Jr. (1989). Enduring social enhancement of rats’ preferences for the palatable and the piquant.Appetite,13, 81–92.
Galef, B. G., Jr.,Kennett, D. J., &Stein, M. (1985). Demonstrator influence on observer diet preference: Effects of simple exposure and the presence of a demonstrator.Animal Learning & Behavior,13, 25–30.
Galef, B. G., Jr.,Kennett, D. J., &Wigmore, S. W. (1984). Transfer of information concerning distant foods in rats: A robust phenomenon.Animal Learning & Behavior,12, 292–296.
Galef, B. G., Jr., &Stein, M. (1985). Demonstrator influence on observer diet preference: Analyses of critical social interactions and olfactory signals.Animal Learning & Behavior,13, 31–38.
Galef, B. G., Jr., &Whiskin, E. E. (1992). Social transmission of information about multiflavored foods.Animal Learning & Behavior,20, 56–62.
Galef, B. G., Jr., &Wigmore, S. W. (1983). Transfer of information concerning distant foods: A laboratory investigation of the “information-centre” hypothesis.Animal Behaviour,31, 748–758.
Galef, B. G., Jr.,Wigmore, S. W., Kennett, D. J. (1983). A failure to find socially mediated taste-aversion learning in Norway rats (R. norvegicus).Journal of Comparative Psychology,97, 358–363.
Heyes, C. M., &Durlach, P. J. (1990). “Social blockade” of taste aversion learning in Norway rats (R. norvegicus): Is it a social phenomenon?Journal of Comparative Psychology,104, 82–87.
Hill, W. (1978). The effects of mere exposure on preferences in nonhuman mammals.Psychological Bulletin,85, 1177–1198.
James, J. H., &Wagner, A. R. (1980). One-trial overshadowing: Evidence of distributed processing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,6, 188–205.
Kamin, L. J. (1969). Predictability, surprise, attention, and conditioning. In B. A. Campbell & R. M. Church (Eds.),Punishment and aversive behavior (pp. 279–296). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Kaye, H., Preston, G. C, Szabo, L., Druiff, H., &Mackintosh, N. J. (1987). Context specificity of conditioning and latent inhibition: Evidence for a dissociation of latent inhibition and associative interference.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,39B, 127–145.
Lubow, R. E. (1973). Latent inhibition.Psychological Bulletin,79, 398–407.
Lubow, R. E. (1989).Latent inhibition and conditioned attention theory. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lubow, R. E., &Moore, A. U. (1959). Latent inhibition: The effect of nonreinforced exposure to the conditioned stimulus.Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology,52, 415–419.
Mackintosh, N. J. (1975). A theory of attention: Variations in the associability of stimuli with reinforcement.Psychological Review,82, 276–298.
Mackintosh, N. J. (1976). Overshadowing and stimulus intensity.Animal Learning & Behavior,4, 186–192.
Mackintosh, N. J., Bygrave, D. J., &Picton, B. M. (1977). Locus of the effect of a surprising reinforcer in the attenuation of blocking.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,29, 327–336.
Mackintosh, N. J., &Reese, B. (1979). One-trial overshadowing.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,31, 519–526.
Pavlov, I. P. (1927).Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press.
Rescorla, R. A., &Wagner, A. R. (1972). A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: Variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement. In A. H. Black & W. F. Prokasy (Eds.),Classical conditioning II: Current research and theory (pp. 64–99). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Rozin, P., &Kalat, J. W. (1972). learning as a situation-specific adaptation. In M. E. P. Seligman & J. L. Hager (Eds.),Biological boundaries of learning (pp. 66–96). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Williams, B. A. (1981). Blocking in an autoshaping procedure.Behavior Analysis Letters,1, 345–351.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Board of Canada and McMaster University Research Board to B.G.G., Jr. We thank Elaine Whiskin for assistance in conducting the experiments and Mertice Clark for thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Galef, B.G., Durlach, P.J. Absence of blocking, overshadowing, and latent inhibition in social enhancement of food preferences. Animal Learning & Behavior 21, 214–220 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197984
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197984