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Updated: May 30, 2026

Assessment of Social Transmission of Food Preferences Behaviors
Published on: January 25, 2018
A case study in behavioral analysis, synthesis and attention to detail: social learning of food preferences
1Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. galef@mcmaster.ca
Abstract:
Philip Teitelbaum's focus on detailed description of behavior, the interplay of analysis and synthesis in experimental investigations and the importance of converging lines of evidence in testing hypotheses has proven useful in fields distant from the physiological psychology that he studied throughout his career. Here we consider the social biasing of food choice in Norway rats as an instance of the application of Teitelbaum's principles of behavioral analysis and synthesis and the usefulness of convergent evidence as well as the contributions of detailed behavioral analysis of social influences on food choice to present understanding of both sensory processes and memory.
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