Have you ever eaten something that has made you sick? If you have, you probably didn’t eat that food again for a very long time, if not ever. This reaction is called taste aversion, which is a type of classical conditioning. During taste aversion, your body associates a certain food that has made you ill with sickness, which makes you avoid eating that food again. I remember one time, during my freshman year, that my friend gave me one of her reeses cups for lunch because she didn’t want to eat it. I had never tried reeses before, so the taste was completely new to me. When I took the first bite, I immediately fell in love with the soft combination of peanut butter and milk chocolate. When I got home I told my mom about the delicious discovery I had made, and begged her to buy multiple bags of reeses cups. Two hours later, after my mom had returned from grocery shopping, I found around seven bags of reeses cups in our kitchen table. I was so happy that I started eating copious amounts of reeses cups without stopping. Before I knew it all the bags were empty, with the content rumbling in my stomach. It was a delicious experience, followed by a dreadful stomach pain. I felt so sick after eating the reeses cups that every time I sensed even the slightest scent of peanut butter my stomach started hurting. I haven’t eaten reeses cups again, and I don’t plan on starting any time soon. After getting sick from a food you ate, your body develops the defensive response of taste aversion to keep you from eating that again, and hence avoid getting sick. Too bad it had to be reeses cups for me.