Radial-maze learning by lines of taste-aversion-prone and taste-aversion-resistant rats

Lines of taste-aversion-prone and taste-aversion-resistant rats have been developed through 22 generations of bidirectional selective breeding for efficient or inefficient taste-aversion conditionability. The present study compared these two lines on food-reinforced foraging in a radial-arm maze. The lines, although not identical on all measures taken, were equally adept at learning the maze. This finding supports prior indications that selective breeding has exerted an effect on learning that is highly specific to taste-aversion conditionability. Therefore, the genetically based line differences in taste-aversion conditionability cannot be attributed to a genetic difference in general learning aptitude.