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- Title
Microstructural analysis of negative anticipatory contrast: A reconsideration of the devaluation account.
- Authors
Wright, Rebecca L.; Gilmour, Gary; Dwyer, Dominic M.
- Abstract
An animal’s appetitive behavior is not a fixed response to current stimulation but can be affected by the anticipation of future events. For example, rats regularly given access to a moderately valued solution followed by a higher value solution (e.g., 4 % sucrose → 32 % sucrose) consume less of the initial solution than in control conditions where the initial solution is not followed by a higher value solution (e.g., 4 % sucrose → 4 % sucrose). Previous analyses have suggested that this negative anticipatory contrast effect does not depend on the “expectation” of a valuable stimulus producing a functional devaluation of a currently available stimulus of lesser value. In a within-subjects anticipatory contrast procedure, this study revealed that both consumption and the mean size of licking clusters were smaller for a 4 % sucrose solution on days when it preceded 32 % sucrose than on days when 4 % preceded 4 %. Since lick cluster size typically bears a positive monotonic relationship with the concentration of palatable solutions, this reduction is indicative of a decrease in the palatability/hedonic value of the solution subject to contrast. As such, we provide direct evidence that negative anticipatory contrast does produce a functional devaluation of the solution, thus challenging prevailing theoretical assumptions.
- Subjects
ANIMAL behavior; ANIMAL psychology; LICKING (Animals); RATS; ANTICIPATORY grief
- Publication
Learning & Behavior, 2013, Vol 41, Issue 4, p353
- ISSN
1543-4494
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3758/s13420-013-0110-1