Short‐term exposure to an odor increases its subsequent preference in preweanling rats: A descriptive profile of the phenomenon

Developmental Psychobiology - Tập 17 Số 4 - Trang 407-422 - 1984
Patricia A. Caza1, Norman E. Spear2
1Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Binghamton, New York
2Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Binghamton, New York 13901, U.S.A.

Tóm tắt

AbstractFive experiments assessed the change in preference for an ambient odor after a brief period of exposure to that odor. Three minutes of exposure to a novel odor consistently increased subsequent preference for that odor. This effect occurred in preweanling rats 10 and 15 days of age even though, relative to the nest, the conditions of exposure were probably aversive tactually and thermally. There was relatively little variation in this effect between the ages of 10 Days postnatal and adulthood and over exposure durations ranging between 3 and 81 min. Substantial retention of this exposure effect was found for the 10‐day‐old rat, with no decline in induced preference over a 24‐hr period. The effect was unchanged by brief familiarization with the testing situation, but was eliminated by prior aversive experience with the testing situation. These results have implications for the design and interpretation of experiments that test learning and memory of odors, and emphazise generally the facility of the developing rat for processing olfactory information.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Alberts J. R., 1981, The Development of Perception: Psychobiological Perspectives Volume 1. Audition, Somatic Perception and the Chemical Senses

Alberts J. R., 1984, Comparative Perspectives on the Development of Memory

10.1037/h0077571

10.1037/h0077423

10.1016/S0003-3472(70)80033-1

10.1016/S0091-6773(75)90174-1

10.1037/h0077693

10.1037/0033-2909.85.6.1177

Johanson I. B., 1984, Comparative Perspectives on the Development of Memory

10.1016/0031-9384(74)90098-5

10.1016/0031-9384(77)90248-7

10.1002/dev.420150407

Rudy J. W., 1979, Ontogeny of Learning and Memory

Spear N. E., 1979, The Psychology of Learning and Motivation

Wigal T., Familiar contextual odors promote discrimination learning in preweanling but not in older rats, Dev. Psychobiol., 17

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Developmental Psychobiology

Tập 17 Số 4

407-422

Thông tin tác giả