Neophobias and conditioned taste aversions in rats following exposure to novel flavors

Rats were successively exposed to three solutions with distinctively different flavors and then tested for both neophobia and propensity to form conditioned taste aversions to a fourth distinctively flavored solution. All permutations between the four solutions (salty, bitter, sweet, and sour) were examined. The prior exposures resulted in attenuation of neophobia to novel salty and sour solutions, but not to equally novel bitter or sweet solutions. These effects were found to depend upon thediversity of the prior ingestive events rather than upon either a single specific flavor experience or a summation of the reductions in generalized neophobia accrued by each substance separately; both of the latter findings are inconsistent with stimulus generalization being responsible for the observed attenuation of neophobia to salty and sour solutions following exposure to diverse different solutions. A further test of generalization between the salty and bitter solutions, consisting of associating one flavor with poison and extinguishing the avoidance response in half the animals prior to testing for generalization of conditioned taste aversion to the other flavor, also proved negative. Although these effects of exposure to flavors distinctly different from the test solution may be dependent upon solution concentrations, further research found that the same pretest exposures and same test concentrations failed to inhibit formation of conditioned taste aversions. A demonstration of “latent inhibition” attested to the sensitivity of our procedure to potential interference with acquisition of conditioned taste aversions. The results are considered in light of the relationship between neophobia and conditioned tasted aversions, the differential biological relevancy of specific tastes, and abstraction as a cognitive capability of rats. The possibility is raised that the defense against toxins is not the primary function of neophobia.     

Truth,Tradition and Religion. The Association between Judaism and Islam and the Relation between Religion and Philosophy in Medieval Jewish Thought

The paper presents the unique philosophy of Moshe Ben Joshua of Narbonne (d. 1362), known as Moshe Narboni. Narboni wrote some fifteen different treatises dealing with various subjects: philosophy, Kabbalah, Biblical exegesis and medicine. The philosophical issues he addressed were logic, psychology, physics and metaphysics. Narboni was a keen disciple of the outstanding Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides, as well as a devoted commentator on works written by prominent Muslim philosophers: Al-Ghazālī, Ibn Bājja (Avempace) Ibn .(T)ufayl and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Narboni adopted the Averroistic view, held also by Maimonides, maintaining that religion was founded on philosophical principles, offering a popular adaptation of philosophy in favour of the uneducated mass. He thus felt that Judaism and Islam were both truthful monotheistic religions, teaching their adherents the same basic principles. However, he did regard Judaism as superior in three major aspects: i) Judaism is more ancient than Islam, and thus was the source for Islamic basic beliefs; ii) the Jewish law teaches the ideal way of life; iii) the Hebrew language lends to the concept of the Deity.     

The elusive office automation benefits

Abstract

American management is ill‐prepared to enter the information age. Utilizing information technology to cut costs and improve decision‐making requires a great deal more knowledge about administrative activities than top management currently possesses. Historically Americans have been poor administrators. Recently recognizing the problem, management turned to office automation as a solution. The rub is you cannot automate what you can't structurally represent. This article explores past conditions leading to this predicament and suggests a conceptual framework for its resolution.     

Effects of component training and subsequent sequencing of stimuli on shuttlebox avoidance responding of rats

The serial presentation of two different CSs, with each stimulus having an 8-sec duration (S1₈/S2₈), consistently has resulted in most of the shuttlebox avoidance responses being recorded to the S2 component. Experiment 1 attempted to attenuate this serial CS, delayed-response effect by conditioning the separate components of a serial CS prior to ordering them sequentially. Ten component-training trials were administered, with subjects receiving CS-US pairing to S1 only, S2 only, or to both S1 and S2 presented on separate trials. Two CS durations (8 or 16 sec) during this phase also were compared. Subjects were then given 100 avoidance test trials using the standard serial procedure. The 10 best avoidance responders in each group were selected for analysis. Shorter avoidance latencies were obtained only for subjects receiving component conditioning to S1. CS duration was not a factor in establishing the shorter latencies. Component conditioning to S2 resulted in increasing the total avoidances. Experiment 2 increased the number of component-training trials and the generality of the findings by using a different strain of rats and by extending the testing phase of the study so that all subjects could be included in the analysis. Comparable results were obtained. The theoretical implications of these data were discussed.