Abstract
In three experiments using rats as subjects, we investigated the degree to which a conditioned flavor aversion transfers from one context to another. Experiment 1, using a one-trial conditioning procedure, found no effect of a change of context on a conditioned aversion. Experiment 2 employed a multitrial procedure and demonstrated that a conditioned aversion was extinguished more rapidly after a change of context. Experiment 3 showed that context change decreased the effectiveness with which a conditioned flavor could block acquisition of an aversion by a second flavor. It is argued that these data cannot be explained in associative terms, and that they constitute evidence of conditionality in a simple aversive conditioning procedure.
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This research was financed by grants from the Science and Engineering Research Council.
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Bonardi, C., Honey, R.C. & Hall, G. Context specificity of conditioning in flavor-aversion learning: Extinction and blocking tests. Animal Learning & Behavior 18, 229–237 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205280
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205280