Author Archives: Erin Ludy

Taste Aversion

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When John Garcia conducted an experiment that paired taste, sight, or sound with radiation, he found that taste was strongly associated with nausea. This led to the concept of taste aversion. As defined in our notes, taste aversion means that humans are apt to have an aversion to foods if they become sick afterwards. In class we mentioned that taste aversion might be a survival instinct that is coded into our genes. This would explain why we have such a violent dislike of something that was paired with our bodies being sick. Our body is just trying to keep us alive and healthy.

I have experienced taste aversion in my own life and it still affects me today. When I was a child and couldn’t take pills, I would have to take liquid medicine. My mom would give me the liquid Tylenol in grape flavor. I can remember the taste and the disgustingly thick texture to this day. Because I would take this when I was sick with a fever, that often meant that it accompanied throwing up. Ever since I was forced to take grape flavored Tylenol I have had a taste aversion to anything grape flavored. To this day I will not eat grape popsicles or grape candy and I will not drink anything grape flavored.

My roommate also shared her taste aversion story with me. She once ordered a cheeseburger from McDonald’s. After consuming it, she ended up becoming sick and throwing up. Now she can’t even think about eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger without wanting to throw up. It is interesting how she can eat anything else from McDonald’s besides their hamburgers and cheeseburgers. My own brother even has a taste aversion to grilled cheese because of becoming sick after eating one. I find it fascinating how almost everyone you talk to has their own experience with a food item to which they have developed a taste aversion.

Memories and Imagination

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Memories are very tricky things. More often that not, memories are actually true. Dr. Wede explained that if most of our memories weren’t true our lives’ would be a total mess. However, it is hard to be completely certain whether a memory is true or false. Imagination can play a big role in how someone remembers something. As we talked about in class, it is also difficult to actually remember events that happened at a really young age. Imagination can play a role in the way that memories are constructed and can either enhance or hinder the credibility of a memory.

In my own experience, there is a memory that I have from when I was probably five or six years old. My family went on vacation to Disney World for a week. The resort that we were staying at had a pool that had one end that was a section designed specifically for kids with shallow water and holes that water popped up through. Then, the further you walk in the deeper the water gets. When I was this small, we had a floaty ring that I was supposed to wear around my waist. I went in without this ring and kept walking to where I couldn’t touch. My memory is very clear of me going under the water and looking up toward the sky seeing that I was underwater and freaking out. I remember a specific one of my aunts saving me.

The problem? This aunt wasn’t on vacation with us. This event is perfectly clear to me in my head, but when I ask about it, I am told that this aunt wasn’t there at all. It makes me wonder if any of this memory is true at all. It is obvious that imagination has played a role in creating or at least shaping this memory because my mind told me that my favorite aunt had saved me when she wasn’t even there. It’s amazing the way we can have memories that seem so real to us, but that might not be real at all.

Classical and Operant Conditioning

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In class, we discussed the concepts of classical and operant conditioning.  Classical conditioning involves pairing a stimulus that was previously neutral with an unconditioned stimulus. An example of this theory can be given using my cats.

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For this example, we need a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus. These happen to be the sound of a bag of cat treats being shaken (the neutral stimulus) and the delicious taste of the treats to my cats (unconditioned stimulus).  When my cats were in the room, I gave them a treat and then shook the bag. After doing this many times, they associated the sound of the bag being shaken with the yummy taste of a treat. Now, when I shake the bag of treats and they are in another room, they come running. It doesn’t even have to be the bag of treats. If anything is shaken and sounds at all similar to the treats being shaken, my cats come running because they want to be given a scrumptious tuna flavored snack. This has turned the sound of the treats being shaken into the conditioned stimulus and the running into the room has become the conditioned response.

Behaviorist B.F. Skinner developed the theory of operant conditioning to explain how voluntary behavior is learned. Our textbook explains that, “in this theory, behavioral responses that are followed by pleasurable consequences are strengthened, or reinforced. An example of this has to do with me. Last semester for Educational Psychology, we were given an extra credit opportunity to conduct an operant conditioning study on ourselves. I had wanted to drink more water, so I made it my goal to drink four bottles of water a day. To condition myself to do this, I had to reward myself to reinforce the behavior. I chose my reinforcer to be a West cookie. So, every time I drank four bottles of water in a day, I had a West cookie for dessert. After the experiment period was over, I found myself drinking more water in a day than I had before. This semester I still drink more water than I used to, and this is because my behavior was reinforced enough to make this behavior stick.

Bibliography:
Cherry, Kendra. “Classical vs Operant Conditioning.” About.com Psychology . About.com, n.d. Web. 4 Feb 2014.
Ciccarelli, Sandra K., and J. Noland White. Psychology. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2012. 14. Print.