ABSTRACT
If consumption of a novel solution or food is followed by one of a number of illness-inducing compounds, the rat will avoid consumption of that solution or food on a subsequent exposure (Garcia & Ervin, 1968; Revusky & Garcia, 1970; Rozin & Kalat, 1971; for additional reviews, see Klosterhalfen & Klosterhalfen, 1985; Logue, 1979; Riley, 1998; Spiker, 1977; for a bibliography on taste aversion learning, see Riley & Tuck, 1985a). This avoidance is rapidly acquired and very robust, resulting in a dramatic suppression of consumption of the illness-associated substance (see Fig. 13.1). Given that the avoidance appears dependent on the learned association between the ingested substance and the resulting illness it has been termed a conditioned taste or conditioned food aversion (Garcia & Ervin, 1968; however, see Mitchell, Scott, & Mitchell, 1977).
