CONTEXTUAL CONTROL OF TASTE-AVERSION IN RATS - THE EFFECTS OF CONTEXTEXTINCTION

Contextual control of sucrose aversion was demonstrated in rats and ef fects of two context-extinction treatments on the aversion were invest igated. After three groups discriminated between the toxic and the saf e contexts, two groups of them were reexposed to the two contexts. The first group received water in place of the sucrose, but the second gr oup was prevented from drinking any fluid by removing the spout from t he contexts. The contexts did not affect the water intake of the first group. After these extinction treatments, the rats were tested with t he sucrose. The treatment of the second group had no effect on the con textual control of the sucrose aversion compared with a home cage grou p. However, the treatment of the first group attenuated, but did not e liminate, the contextual control. Conditional, summational, and config ural views on the contextual control are discussed.