Why We Learn to Avoid Certain Foods — The Science of Taste Aversion

 An organism avoids a food that has previously been paired with illness or some type of discomfort. 
Taste aversion is distinct from regular conditioning in that taste aversion can be conditioned after one pairing, and it does not matter if the illness occurred four to six hours after eating (Powell, Symbaluk, & Honey, 2020). This differs from the typical classical conditioning examples when the conditioned stimulus, such as tone, and the unconditioned stimulus, such as food, are paired close in timing. 
This example of learning has survival value, as it helps animals avoid poisoned foods after one bad experience. It is noteworthy that research has also shown biological constraints on this learning; animals more easily develop aversions to novel or unfamiliar tastes than familiar tastes. This is an example of preparedness (Garcia & Koelling, 1966).
Have you ever had an experience where you ate something and never wanted to eat it again? You may have a strong dislike for something, but there might be a reason and a fascinating learning phenomenon called taste aversion conditioning. Taste aversion conditioning is a fascinating form of classical conditioning. An organism learns to avoid a food after it is associatively conditioned with illness or distress.
Research shows that taste aversion is also different than most other forms of conditioning in that it can develop after one pairing and even if the organism gets ill hours after eating the food (Powell, Symbaluk, & Honey, 2020). This research is different from many classical conditioning studies. Taste aversion conditioning also applies to humans. For instance, chemotherapy patients often develop an aversion to a food that they ate before their chemotherapy treatment as a result of the nausea that they experience, affecting their nutrition (Gibson & Mitchell, 1993). Being aware of taste aversion conditioning provides medical professionals with an opportunity to enhance care.
In conclusion, taste aversion conditioning illustrates how a powerful evolutionary force affects our learning by blending biology and experience, and how it can affect our behavior.
References:
Powell, R. A., Symbaluk, D. G., & Honey, R. C. (2020). Introduction to Learning and Behavior (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Garcia, J., & Koelling, R. A. (1966). Relation of Cue to Consequence in Avoidance Learning. Psychonomic Science, 4(1), 123–124. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328392
Gibson, E. S., & Mitchell, D. C. (1993). The conditioned taste aversion following chemotherapy in cancer patients. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 11(1), 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1300/J077v11n01_05




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