TASTE REACTIVITY AND CONSUMPTION MEASURES IN THE ASSESSMENT OF OVERSHADOWING - MODULATION OF AVERSIVE, BUT NOT INGESTIVE, REACTIVITY

Three dependent measures-a taste reactivity test, a two-bottle prefere nce test, and a one-bottle extinction test-were used to investigate th e conditioning effects of pairing a taste/taste compound with LiCl-ind uced illness in rats. Avoidance of saccharin consumption in the one-bo ttle test was attenuated if saccharin and denatonium were paired durin g illness training (overshadowing). Also, saccharin was found to be mo re palatable if paired with denatonium during training as reflected by aversive (but not ingestive) taste reactivity measures. It is argued that overshadowing was reflected mainly by a modulation of aversive ta ste reactivity behavior with little influence on ingestive taste react ivity. The results are discussed in terms of current palatability issu es, and it is suggested that applying taste reactivity tests to phenom ena associated with taste avoidance learning (e.g., overshadowing or p otentiation) may further our understanding of the mechanisms that guid e such learning.