PSYC 720 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Conditioned Taste Aversion, Lithium Chloride, Interstimulus Interval
Document Summary
Learning: a change in behavior due to experience. General process learning theory: attempted to account for all learning with the same set of principles. Constraints on learning (problems with general process learning theory: autoshaping. Instinctive drift: animals being reinforced with food engage in counterproductive species specific food related behaviors. Example: raccoon washing behavior before the coin got put in a slot. Bolles: difficult to train rats to perform anything other than natural defensive behaviors when learning to avoid shock: conditioned taste aversion. Domjan and wilson: measured preferences in rats after treatment. Three groups: group 1 (taste): lithium chloride (posion) + saccharine, group 2 (noise): shock + buzzer, group 3 (control) Rats injected with poison avoided the saccharine water. Rats that received shock avoided the buzzer. Taste aversion learning occurs with minimum experience (single-trial learning) Learning can occur even with hours in between toxin and sickness.
