Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Appetitive Associative Olfactory Learning in Drosophila Larvae
Published on: February 18, 2013
An ear for quality: differential associative characteristics of taste-potentiated auditory and odor avoidance
S von Kluge1, T Perkey, J Peregord
1Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti 48197, USA.
Abstract:
This research compared the avoidance behavior of rats exposed to either a taste-tone (NaCl-70 dB, 1800 Hz) or a taste-odor (NaCl-almond) compound that had been paired with LiCl-induced illness. When tested in the presence of either the odor or the auditory cue presented alone it was found that taste potentiated both cues, but stronger initial avoidance and resistance to extinction was shown to the odor cue. A second experiment examined the generalization of potentiated odor and auditory aversions to a novel environment. Rats were exposed to either a taste-odor or taste-tone compound, again followed by illness. Half of each group was tested in the conditioning chamber and half in a novel chamber. Odor aversions were not affected by location, whereas auditory aversions were significantly stronger in the conditioning chamber. Experiment 3 showed that taste-potentiated odor and auditory aversions showed different patterns of extinction when the taste aversion on which they were based was gradually extinguished. These experiments provide evidence that while the taste potentiation of auditory cues is a reliable phenomena, the pattern of effects is different from that of taste-potentiated odor aversions.
Related Concept Videos
Gustation
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Taste Buds and Receptors
The Physiology of Taste
Tactile and Chemical Senses
Conditioned Taste Aversion
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single exposure...

