Effects of Palatability of Food on the Conditioning of Hunger in Rats

An experiment was conducted to study the association of foods of different levels of palatability and environmental events present during eating. Rats were exposed to different. foods in a start box and then allowed to run to a goal box containing food of a lesser or equal palatability. All animals showed a decrease in latency to eat in the start box and an increase in the amount of food consumed in the start box, with no significant differences in treatment groups at the end of conditioning. Although all groups, including the control group did run faster and eat more over days of conditioning, there were no significant differences in the motivation of the animals to run to food or the amount of food consumed in the goal box, as a function of the conditioning food. Apparently there were no lasting significant effects of the differences in palatability on the conditioning of hunger. These observations are discussed in terms of other literature showing an inconsistency of positive evidence for conditioned hunger.