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J D Batson

Publications and source records attributed to J D Batson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Taste preconditioning augments odor-aversion learning.

On the basis of previous work that has shown a taste can potentiate odor-aversion conditioning in AX+ conditioning, 6 experiments used rats to examine the effects of pairing a preconditioned taste (A) with a novel odor cue (X) in an A+/AX+ aversion conditioning design. Experiments 1A and 1B demonstrated that a preconditioned taste produced a robust odor aversion that was significantly stronger than a potentiated odor aversion. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the robust odor aversion produced by A+/AX+ conditioning was not the result of the potentiated odor aversion summating with generalization from the taste aversion. The augmented odor aversion was produced only when the taste and odor stimuli were presented simultaneously (Experiment 3) and the preconditioned taste aversion was intact at compound conditioning (Experiment 4). Pairing a novel odor with a preconditioned taste was not sufficient to condition an aversion to odor (Experiment 5), although other results implicated a role for an association between odor and taste in the odor augmentation effect (Experiment 6). The present results have implications for current models of taste + odor interactions in flavor-aversion conditioning.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Augmentation, not blocking, in an A+/AX+ flavor-conditioning procedure.

An A+/AX+ Pavlovian conditioning design typically produces weakened or blocked conditioning to stimulus X. Two experiments were conducted in which rats first received an odor (A+) paired with an emetic US, and then received odor and taste (AX+) paired with the US. In both experiments, the preconditioned odor facilitated conditioning to the taste. In Experiment 1, a group that received two odor-illness pairings in A+ conditioning had a stronger taste aversion than a group that only had a single odor-illness pairing. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the strengthened taste aversion in the A+/AX+ condition was not due to stimulus generalization. The results represent a unique outcome in the flavor-aversion literature that is similar to potentiation. We propose that this facilitated conditioning to X in the A+/AX+ design be termed augmentation.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Augmentation of taste conditioning by a preconditioned odor.

Five experiments explored facilitated taste-aversion conditioning (odor-mediated taste augmentation), using rats that experienced odor (A) and taste (X) in an A+/AX+ design. Augmentation occurred when the stimuli were presented simultaneously during AX+ conditioning, and significantly weaker conditioning occurred after a sequential presentation (Experiment 1). Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that augmented conditioning decreased if the odor aversion was reduced through preexposure or extinction following A+ conditioning. A second-order conditioning explanation was not supported by the results of Experiment 4. Experiment 5 showed that extinction of the odor aversion after AX+ conditioning did not alter the strength of the augmented taste aversion. Odor-mediated taste augmentation is similar to potentiation, in which odor and taste cues operate in a synergistic, not competitive, manner.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Simultaneous conditioning in honeybees (Apis mellifera).

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) were classically conditioned with odor as conditioned stimulus (CS), sucrose as unconditioned stimulus (US), and proboscis extension as response. The purpose of Experiment 1 (Ns = 26 and 27) was to look for facilitation of forward conditioning by CS-US overlap, but rapid conditioning without overlap left little room for improvement. In 2 further experiments, CS and US were simultaneous, and response to odor alone was measured in subsequent tests. In Experiment 2, a Simultaneous group (N = 25) responded more to the training odor than did an Unpaired control group (N = 25). In Experiment 3, a differentially conditioned Simultaneous group (N = 29) responded more to an odor paired with sucrose in training (S+) than to an odor presented alone (S-). The implications of the results for the problem of the role of amount of reward in honeybee learning are considered.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Interfering with taste aversion learning in rats: the role of associative interference.

Six experiments with rats investigated the conditions under which one flavor interferes with aversion conditioning to a second, familiar flavor. Conditioning to the familiar flavor was weakest when the interference flavor was contiguous to lithium-induced toxicosis, novel, more intense, and strongly associated with toxicosis. In addition, conditioning to the familiar flavor was weakened even if multiple conditioning trials were used. The repeated finding of an inverse relationship between strength of aversion to the target and interference flavors is interpreted as support for an associative competition hypothesis of the interference effect. The possible relevance of the interference effect to the attenuation of taste aversions in cancer patients is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Drug-preexposure effects in flavor-aversion learning: associative interference by conditioned environmental stimuli.

Previous research has documented that exposure to a drug reduces the ability of the drug to support subsequent flavor-aversion learning. The four experiments reported here examined the hypothesis that this drug-preexposure effect is due to associative interference from environmental stimuli associated with the drug effects during preexposure. When distinctive environmental stimuli (confinement in a black compartment) were present during drug preexposure, these stimuli significantly disrupted subsequent flavor-aversion learning. Furthermore, flavor conditioning was not significantly disrupted when drug preexposure occurred in the absence of salient environmental stimuli or when the previously conditioned environmental stimuli were extinguished prior to flavor conditioning. It is significant, and in contrast to other published research, that flavor conditioning was not disrupted when the distinctive cues paired with the drug during preexposure were absent at the time of the flavor-drug pairing. These results are thus consistent with results from conventional studies of stimulus blocking and suggest that associative processes can play a major role in the drug-preexposure effect.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Enhancing the expression of flavor neophobia: some effects of the ingestion-illness contingency.

Four experiments investigating factors contributing to enhanced ingestional neophobia are reported. Rats administered lithium chloride following ingestion of a novel coffee solution showed an enhanced neophobia reaction to vinegar and casein. This enhancement was specific to the novelty of both the conditioning and test fluids and was not observed in animals receiving noncontingent toxicosis. Poisoning alone, however, mediated a nonspecific fluid suppression that persisted for approximately two drinking sessions following treatment. In contrast to other experiments, the operation of generalization was detected only when a novel flavor was the test fluid, suggesting that neophobia enhancement is at least partially mediated by a conditioned novelty aversion resulting from the novel flavor-lithium contingency.

Animals↗