Effects of water deprivation and prior LiCl exposure in conditioning taste aversions

The phenomenon of attenuated taste aversion conditioning following preexposure to a lithium chloride UCS was demonstrated in Experiment 1. The amount of fluid consumed during the preconditioning phase was shown to be a factor in the degree of attenuated conditioning. The pharmacological properties of LiCl, and the effects of either ad lib or restricted fluid intake in conjunction with state dependent variables were proposed to account for the results. In Experiment 2 the water scheduling and LiCl habituation procedures of Experiment 1 were replicated, and serum lithium was assessed in the various groups on conditioning day. The groups did not differ, ruling out an incremental illness hypothesis of attenuated conditioning.