Demonstrator influence on observer diet preference: Effects of simple exposure and the presence of a demonstrator

Abstract

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that a naive rat (an observer), after interacting briefly with a previously fed conspecific(a demonstrator), will exhibit an enhanced preference for the diet its demonstrator had been fed. The present studies were undertaken to determine whether demonstrator-induced alterations in observer diet preference were the result of simple exposure of observers to diet-identifying cues emitted by demonstrators during the period of demonstrator-observer interaction. Our results indicated that observer experience of diet-related cues in the stimulus context provided by the presence of a demonstrator was sufficient to enhance observer preference for a diet, whereas simple exposure to that diet was not. We concluded that demonstrator influence on observer diet preferences was not the consequence of simple exposure of observers to demonstrator-emitted cues reflecting demonstrators' diet.

Conditioned food aversions: principles and practices, with special reference to social facilitation

“…Conditioned food aversion is a powerful experimental tool to modify animal diets (Galef, 1985). We have shown that it is a potential management tool to prevent livestock from grazing poisonous plants like larkspur (Ralphs, 1997), locoweed , and ponderosa pine (JA Pfister, unpublished results).…”

“…Simple exposure to a food did not enhance preference. However, the presence of a demonstrator rat that had eaten a specific food, even if that food was consumed at another location, enhanced the observer rats' preference for that food (Galef et al 1985). Delays of up to 4 h between the demonstrator's meal and interaction with the observer did not impede the establishment of preference for the food.…”

“…Delays of up to 4 h between the demonstrator's meal and interaction with the observer did not impede the establishment of preference for the food. He also reported that social facilitation was strong enough to overcome established food aversions (Galef, 1985). Rats which had formed mild aversions to a specific food abandoned their aversion to that food following interaction with one demonstrator that had eaten the food at a distant location.…”

“…Galef and his research group (Galef, 1985(Galef, , 1986Galef et al 1985) have systematically evaluated the influence of social facilitation on diet selection in rats. Simple exposure to a food did not enhance preference.…”

Social influences on food choices of Norway rats and mate choices of Japanese quail

“…The method we used to answer the first of these questions was similar to that used in the first experiment described above, except in how we exposed demonstrators to diets and in the conditions under which demonstrators and observers interacted (Galef, Kennett, & Stein, 1985;. As shown in Figure 7, when a demonstrator and its observer interacted, the demonstrator was anesthetized and held in a wire-mesh tube inserted into a cardboard bucket.…”