Paul Thomas Young

INFLUENCE OF LEARNING ON TASTE PREFERENCES

Further discussion of the Schnorr and Brookshire study of the preference between distilled water and tap water, with comments and suggestions.

Distilled Water and Tap Water as Factors in Taste Preference of the Rat

Schnorr and Brookshire demonstrated that naive rats reared from weaning on distilled water prefer distilled water to tap water; Ss reared on tap water also prefer distilled water, which result approaches statistical significance. This preference for distilled water is directly opposed to findings of Young and Falk who demonstrated a preference for tap water. The present paper is an analysis and interpretation of these experiments along with data from two further studies of taste preference.

Isohedonic Contour Maps

For several years experiments have been carried out under the following conditions. We have used need-free rats, i.e., animals maintained upon an unlimited supply of tap water and adequate diet, in order to control the appetite-drive factor. We have worked with compound, as well as simple, taste solutions. Compound solutions have a distinct advantage in that hedonically positive and negative solutes can be combined within a single solution that is positively acceptable to rats. We have worked with an electronic preference tester which makes it possible to test squads of six rats simultaneously. The tester is built upon the principle of the electronic drinkometer described by Hill and Stellar (1951).

Discrepancy and the affective processes a critique of professor Stagner's theory of motivation

Motivation is a process of energy mobilization that occurs in varying degrees and that becomes integrated into specific goal-directed patterns called motives. Physiological homeostasis is a process of maintaining steady states within the body fluids. If there is a departure from a relatively stable state, behavior becomes directed toward a goal that restores stability. The concept of homeostasis can be extended to include the maintaining of equilibria within the dynamic relations between organism and environment. This extension makes it possible to describe social motives and motivations within personality as the removal of discrepancies to restore O-E equilibria. A limitation of the discrepancy theory, however, is that it does not adequately take account of the role of affective processes in motivation and development. Affective arousals are both activating and regulating. They are basic factors in reinforcement and the organization of goal-oriented behavior. Therefore, two dimensions of energy mobilization are required to give an adequate account of motivation and development: activation and the hedonic dimension. The distinction between cognitive and affective processes has an objective neuropsychological basis.