TASTE PREFERENCES AND AVERSIONS BASED UPON RATS' INTERNAL DEPRIVATION STATE

DAVID EDWIN MYERS, Purdue University

Abstract

In most current motivational theories the behavioral effects of food deprivation are accounted for by an incentive mechanism. A central assumption of these theories is that the incentive value of food is an increasing function of deprivation level. A review of the literature suggests that empirical evidence supporting this assumption is meager and contradictory. To test this assumption further, rats were allowed to consume two flavors under different deprivation levels. In subsequent choice tests, the rats showed a relative preference for the flavor consumed under the lower deprivation level over the flavor consumed under the higher deprivation level. It was suggested that this preference could be accounted for in terms of a learned aversion to the cue received under high deprivation or learned preference for the low deprivation cue, or both. This preference could be reduced or reversed if a food maintenance ration was received in a close temporal relationship with the receipt of flavors, suggesting that direct or indirect associations between the flavors and the food or its aftereffects could be formed. The preference for the low over high deprivation cue was an increasing function of the sweetness of the flavor solution, a finding which was consistent with predictions based on analogy with reward magnitude contrast effects. Preferences also differed depending on whether the flavors were dissolved in a saccharin, sucrose, or polycose solution, and possible mechanisms for these differences were discussed. These results were generally inconsistent with an incentive account of deprivation effects.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Psychology|Experiments

COinS