Further Attempts to Obtain a Forward Blocking Effect on Running‐Based Taste Aversion Learning in Rats

Abstract It is well established that rats acquire an aversion to a taste solution consumed immediately prior to voluntary wheel running, a phenomenon representing a form of Pavlovian aversive conditioning based on a taste–running correlation. Although various behavioral phenomena characteristic of typical Pavlovian preparations have been demonstrated in this setting, evidence for the associative blocking effect remains limited. The present study aimed to provide evidence for this effect by reducing the number of conditioning trials compared to previous work. The first experiment yielded some positive results. When rats were conditioned with sequential presentations of two taste solutions followed by wheel running (A → B → running), aversion to taste A was reduced if the rats had prior experience with B followed by running (B → running), suggesting that the pre‐established B‐running association blocked the formation of an A‐running association. However, subsequent experiments failed to produce statistically reliable effects, raising concerns about the robustness of the blocking effect in running‐based taste aversion learning.