The Acquisition of an Appetite

Authors: W.G. Hall¹; H. Moore Arnold¹; Kevin P. Myers¹

Source: Psychological Science, Volume 11, Number 2, March 2000 , pp. 101-105(5)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

Unlike older animals, weanling-age rats do not seek water to drink when they are dehydrated, despite the fact that a physiological sensitivity to dehydration is present very soon after birth. We demonstrate here that the appetitive behaviors needed to approach and obtain water become linked to dehydration only as a result of specific postnatal learning experience. Preventing early experience with dehydration retards the developmental emergence of dehydration-induced, water-oriented behavior in young rats. But a single pairing of water with dehydration can establish an appetitive response. These findings reveal a critical role of early learning in the development of goal-oriented behavior. Such a learning process is potentially characteristic of other behavioral systems, from the most basic appetites to complex motives.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00223

Affiliations: 1: Duke University

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