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Ontogeny of consummatory successive negative contrast in rats
Author(s) -
Suárez Andrea B.,
Mustaca Alba E.,
Pautassi Ricardo M.,
Kamenetzky Giselle V.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21178
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , contrast (vision) , developmental psychology , taste , ontogeny , neuroscience , endocrinology , social psychology , biology , artificial intelligence , computer science
Consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) occurs when organisms repeatedly exposed to a high‐magnitude reward are suddenly given a low‐magnitude reward. This results in a significant reduction in the consumption of the devalued reinforcer, at a level even below that of a group which had been always exposed to the low‐magnitude reinforcer. A scarcity of animal studies assessed the expression of this phenomenon during early development. Three experiments assessed age of cSNC onset in preweanling rats. Percent body weight gained (%BWG) and taste reactions associated with reinforcement devaluation were measured. A reduction in %BWG and a significant increase in emission of aversive hedonic behaviors, indicative of cSNC, occurred on postnatal day 18 (PD 18; Experiments 1 and 2), but not on PD 14 or PD 17 (Experiments 3a and 3b). The neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects and theoretical implications are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 56: 989–998, 2014.