Taste-mediated conditioned aversion to an exteroceptive stimulus following LiCl poisoning

Describes 2 experiments with a total of 54 female hooded rats. When a light was paired with a novel taste in a barpressing situation and this pairing was followed by toxicosis, the light subsequently suppressed extinction responding. Conditioned suppression did not occur if the light-toxicosis pairing was unaccompanied by the distinctive taste cue. Additionally, no suppression was obtained if the light-taste association was first formed with a palatable stimulus which was subsequently made aversive by pairing with toxicosis outside the test situation. Results are interpreted in terms of (a) a distinction between the cue and reinforcing properties of the taste or (b) the necessity for a degree of temporal contiguity between the exteroceptive stimulus and the effects of toxicosis.