taste aversions

STUDY

garcia and koelling (1966)

• classically conditioned rats to acquire taste aversion to sweetened water after pairing it with poison.

• less successful when pairing water with electric shocks

• aversion to light and clicking sounds was easily conditioned in another group with electric shocks

• taste aversion is much more likely to be the outcome of eating poisoned food than encountering light or sounds.

• preparedness to develop aversions to keep us safe

• NEGATIVE - extrapolation across species

STUDY

steiner (1977)

• evidence of negative facial expressions in newborns in response to bitter tastes

• occurred before taste preferences has taken place. suggesting innate mechanism

• innate = aids survival, passed down by early ancestors.

• NEGATIVE - babies to young to clearly communicate how they feel, subjective to rely on observation.