Effects Of Neophobia Research Articles

The effects of repeated exposure and variety on vegetable intake in pre-school children

Children's vegetable consumption in the UK remains lower than national recommendations, presenting potential long-term health risks. It is known that repeated exposure promotes intake of novel vegetables and that offering children variety and choice can also encourage intake. The current study aimed to compare the impact of offering variety over simple repeated exposure as a strategy for increasing pre-school children's vegetable consumption. Children (N = 95) aged 24–55 months were recruited through participating nurseries and assigned to receive repeated exposure (RE) to a single vegetable snack or a mixed snack consisting of five different vegetables (variety: V). A minimum of 5 (maximum 6) exposures were given for both RE and V conditions. Pre and post-intervention intake measures of both the RE and V snacks were taken for each child. Follow up measures took place 1 month post-intervention (n = 40). Vegetable intake increased significantly from pre to post intervention for snacks congruent to the condition to which children were assigned. Magnitude of change was smaller for the variety condition. Follow up data revealed that snack intake remained significantly higher than baseline 1 month post-intervention (p < 0.001). In agreement with previous work this study confirmed that repeated exposure was effective in promoting children's vegetable intake but there was no additional benefit of variety in this context. It may be that for moderately familiar vegetables, serving them alone encourages intake and for this age group, avoids contamination fears or effects of neophobia.

Social learning of feeding behaviour in pigs: Effects of neophobia and familiarity with the demonstrator conspecific

Social interactions facilitate animals learning of new features of their environment minimizing a trial and error process. It has been observed in some species that food cues can be acquired by one individual (the observer) from an animal model (demonstrator) due to social learning. Three experiments were performed to evaluate whether weaned piglets may show a preference for a flavoured feed following brief social interactions (30min) with an experienced demonstrator. After the social interaction between demonstrator and observer pigs, a 30-min choice test between the flavoured feed previously eaten by demonstrators (DEM-feed) and other flavoured feed (OTH-feed; Exp. 1 and 2) or a known unflavoured starter diet (Exp. 3) was performed with observer animals. Greater intake of DEM-feed occurred when demonstrators and observers were from the same pen (Exp. 1) or from the same litter (Exp. 2), but not when observers and demonstrators were unfamiliar with each other (Exp. 1). Observers also preferred flavours previously eaten by the demonstrator over their unflavoured diet already known. Social interactions with a conspecific pig that had a recent experience with a flavoured feed enhanced the preference for that feed and could even override neophobia to a new feed. The familiarity of conspecific demonstrators plays a key role in social learning of new feed cues probably due to selective exploration involving closer snout-to-snout contacts with kin conspecifics.

Affective Response of Adolescents toward Fruit‐ and Vegetable‐Based Snacks and the Role of Neophobia, Gender and Age

AbstractAdolescents' (n = 278, 10–16 years old) affective response toward snack combinations prepared based on four approaches was studied: (1) combining one or more colors in a snack; (2) adding energy‐dense food sources to an energy low vegetable snack; (3) combining fruits and vegetables with savory and sweet snack products; and (4) creating surprising snack combinations by adding sensory sensations not anticipated from visual cues. The effect of neophobia, gender and age on response toward the snack combinations and difference between expected liking and actual liking was investigated. The only approach, which was proven partly successful, was adding energy‐dense food sources to an energy low vegetable snack. Otherwise, the pure fruit or vegetable combinations received the highest affective responses. Effects of neophobia and gender on the affective response were found. Expected liking was rated higher than actual liking except for snack combinations prepared based on approach 4.Practical ApplicationsThis paper describes adolescents' affective response toward fruit‐ and vegetable‐based snack combinations prepared as examples of four different approaches. The results show an effect of gender and level of neophobia on adolescents' affective response toward the snacks. These results are important as they show the importance of tailoring snacks to different groups of adolescents as these might have different acceptances for fruit‐ and vegetable‐based snacks.

Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia)

When animals show both frequent innovation and fast social learning, new behaviours can spread more rapidly through populations and potentially increase rates of natural selection and speciation, as proposed by A.C. Wilson in his behavioural drive hypothesis. Comparative work on primates suggests that more innovative species also show more social learning. In this study, we look at intra-specific variation in innovation and social learning in captive wild-caught pigeons. Performances on an innovative problem-solving task and a social learning task are positively correlated in 42 individuals. The correlation remains significant when the effects of neophobia on the two abilities are removed. Neither sex nor dominance rank are associated with performance on the two tasks. Free-flying flocks of urban pigeons are able to solve the innovative food-finding problem used on captive birds, demonstrating it is within the range of their natural capacities. Taken together with the comparative literature, the positive correlation between innovation and social learning suggests that the two abilities are not traded-off.

Comment on paper by Mitchell, Scott, and Mitchell

I have read with interest the paper by Mitchell et al. (1977) and the subsequent correspondence regarding this paper (Mitchell, 1977; Revusky, 1977). are several points missing from the paper and the correspondence which need attention. I submit evidence from our past research for consideration. We conducted several X-ray-induced tasteaversion studies using of rats where saccharin was paired with X-rays, saccharin was paired with sham exposure, water was paired with X-rays, or water was paired with sham exposure (e.g., Morris & Smith, 1964; Smith & Birkle, 1966; Smith & Morris, 1964; Smith, Morris, & Hendricks, 1964; Smith & Schaeffer, 1967). Always using a 24-48 two-bottle preference test, always analyzing preference scores and total fluid consumption, we found aversion in the saccharin-X-ray and no significant aversion in the other groups. Sometimes there was more variability in (Smith, et al. 1964, is an example of this-see Table 1), but I these were not different from the water-sham groups. Later, Scarborough's (e.g., McLaurin, Farley, Scarborough, & Rawlings, 1964; McLaurin & Scarborough, 1963; McLaurin, Scarborough, & Farley, 1964; Scarborough & McLaurin, 1964), began reporting taste aversions in groups. These results were puzzling to us for some time, but we think we subsequently understood his group's findings. In the Scarborough studies, the preference test was started immediately following the pairing of saccharin or water with X-ray. Therefore, we assumed that the aversion consequences of the X-rays were being paired with the saccharin available in the preference test. I think the paper by Schaeffer and me (1967) showed that assumption was correct. Once again, we saw no conditioning in or empty bottle-X-ray groups. Mitchell et al. (1977) correctly state that Roll and I (1967) did .not include noncontingently poisoned controls in our experiment, i.e., rats receiving treatment or no solution X-ray treatment. We did not because there was such a history in our laboratory of that control group's showing no evidence of conditioning. In retrospect, if we had run the noncontingent control I don't believe our conclusions would have differed because we used a two-bottle 48-h preference test and one can see no effects of neophobia or enhanced neophobia with that preference measure (see Carroll, Dine, Levy, & Smith, 1975). I am convinced that some confusion in the taste aversion literature results from the differences between a short-term single-bottle test and the long-term two-bottle test. Where are we? I conclude that the noncontingent controls mean much if the test is a short-term test where neophobia and enhanced neophobia are evident and that the noncontingent controls mean little if the preference test is a long-term one (Carroll et al., 1975). I think that a of the noncontingent controls in the Smith and Roll (1967) study would not change the results of that experiment. That control has not been run under these circumstances, but since one gets no aversion in water-X-ray immediate groups, it seems fruitless to look for aversion in water-X-ray delay groups as long as the aversion test is the long-term twobottle preference test. I cannot, therefore, agree that there has been a general failure to appreciate the importance of nonassociative factors in delayed poisoning taste-aversion experiments. I am convinced that nonassociative factors do not matter when a long-term test is used. A few other points may be worth mentioning. I do not know the evidence for the statement in the Mitchell letter (1977), There is little doubt that animals exposed to X-rays of this magnitude, especially the higher dose (which is approximately one half of the LD5o) , remain 'sick' for several days following treatment (as evidenced by prolonged hypophagia). We have seen no evidence of sickness in a rat 6 h following X-ray exposure. I have seen no prolonged hypophagia, and there is considerable evidence that intakes of saccharin and water are not modified (see Barker & Smith, 1974, Figure 1, page 647). Also, the LD.o for a rat is 750R, three times the exposure Revusky (1968)used. Although Roll and I reported evidence of taste aversion with 12-h CS-US delays, I think the more realistic figure is from the Barker and Smith (1974) paper. In the Barker and Smith paper, we did not see significant evidence of taste aversion beyond the 6-h delay group. A 6-h delay in the Mitchell et al. (1977) study may be too long to clearly demonstrate their point. I would like to see intermediate added to the Mitchell et al. (1977) paper. should be an orderly change in the extinction curves between the P-Soc-I and the P-Soc-D groups. The tests in Revusky's (1968) and Mitchell et al. (1977) papers were short-term tests. I do not understand why the irradiated or poisoned controls did not show any enhanced neophobia. I would suspect the previous experience {not the size of the group as suggested by Mitchell (1977)J made some difer-

Demonstrations of neophobia and enhanced neophobia in the albino rat.

The conditions under which neophobia and enhanced neophobia occur in the albino rat were studied. Neophobia to a .1% saccharin solution was demonstrated in a 10-min single-bottle test. This neophobia was enhanced by pairing water ingestion with a radiation exposure of 100 r. or an injection of lithium chloride 24 hr prior to the saccharin test. In addition, it was found that the differences in consumption of saccharin in a 10-min single-bottle test due to neophobia and enhanced neophobia were produced by consistent differences in drinking rates which appeared early in the 10-min period. The disappearance of neophobia and enhanced neophobia in a 1-hr single-bottle test suggested that the effects of neophobia and enhanced neophobia are short-lived and are best measured in a brief single-bottle test. Finally, enhanced neophobia was not found when 2 days of water drinking were interposed between LiCl poisoning and saccharin testing.

Effects of neophobia and habituation on the poison-induced avoidance of exteroceptive stimuli in the rat.

Effects of neophobia and habituation on the poison-induced avoidance of exteroceptive stimuli in the rat.

Effects of neophobia and habituation on the poison-induced avoidance of exteroceptive stimuli in the rat.

Two experiments on the role of neophobia in poison-induced aversions to exteroceptive stimuli are reported. In Experiment 1, rats were given either 10 or 25 days of habituation to the test situation prior to conditioning. Those animals with the longer habituation period avoided a complex of novel exteroceptive stimuli while those with the shorter habituation period did not. In Experiment 2 rats initially avoided the more novel of two containers, but gradually came to eat equal amounts from both. A single pairing of toxicosis with consumption from either the novel or the familiar container reinstated the avoidance of the novel container in both cases. The results were discussed in terms of an interaction between habituation and conditioning procedures. It was suggested that previously reported differences between interoceptive and exteroceptive conditioning effects may have been influenced by the differential novelty of the two classes of stimuli in the test situation. It was further suggested that non-contingently poisoned control groups should routinely be included in poison avoidance conditioning studies.