Social Transfer Of Food Preference In Rats
Social Transfer of Food Preference in Rats after Initial Taste Preference
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Abstract
Rats are animals known to be neophobic, fearful of new experiences and tend to show behaviors of avoidance to eat novel foods. However, there are high chances that rats will eat novel foods if they have reasons to expect that the food is safe to consume and not harmful. The social transmission of food preference paradigm (STFP) was tested in 28 male rats that were about 5 months old. The investigation consisted of four phases, the initial phase, demonstration phase, interaction phase and the test phase. During the initial phase, the observer rats were exposed to two flavors and initial preference was determined. Phase 2, the demonstrator rats were exposed to assigned flavors of foods. After, both the observer and demonstrator rats were placed in an open field for the interaction phase. Following the interaction phase, the observer rats were tested for aversion to their demonstrator’s diet. In this experiment, we expect the observer rats to prefer the food eaten by the demonstrator rats on the last phase (test phase) and not the initial foods they were presented with during the initial phase. Some limitations in previous experiments could be that the exposure to the odors might make the observer rats develop and immediate preference for the foods. Keywords: Flavors, Preferences, Demonstrator, Observer, Interaction, Phases
Social Transfer of Food Preference in Rats after Initial Taste Preference
Social transmission of food preference paradigm (STFP) is the belief that alimentary information can be transferred between rodents due to social interactions. In a natural context STFP involves learning the appropriate responses to an environment through experience, rats learn what is safe or harmful for them to consume. Briefly, STFP can be explained as demonstrator rats consuming novel foods and then interacting with the
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Abstract
Rats are animals known to be neophobic, fearful of new experiences and tend to show behaviors of avoidance to eat novel foods. However, there are high chances that rats will eat novel foods if they have reasons to expect that the food is safe to consume and not harmful. The social transmission of food preference paradigm (STFP) was tested in 28 male rats that were about 5 months old. The investigation consisted of four phases, the initial phase, demonstration phase, interaction phase and the test phase. During the initial phase, the observer rats were exposed to two flavors and initial preference was determined. Phase 2, the demonstrator rats were exposed to assigned flavors of foods. After, both the observer and demonstrator rats were placed in an open field for the interaction phase. Following the interaction phase, the observer rats were tested for aversion to their demonstrator’s diet. In this experiment, we expect the observer rats to prefer the food eaten by the demonstrator rats on the last phase (test phase) and not the initial foods they were presented with during the initial phase. Some limitations in previous experiments could be that the exposure to the odors might make the observer rats develop and immediate preference for the foods. Keywords: Flavors, Preferences, Demonstrator, Observer, Interaction, Phases
Social Transfer of Food Preference in Rats after Initial Taste Preference
Social transmission of food preference paradigm (STFP) is the belief that alimentary information can be transferred between rodents due to social interactions. In a natural context STFP involves learning the appropriate responses to an environment through experience, rats learn what is safe or harmful for them to consume. Briefly, STFP can be explained as demonstrator rats consuming novel foods and then interacting with the