Galef B G
Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Behav Processes. 1993 Dec;30(3):309-16. doi: 10.1016/0376-6357(93)90143-F.
Each of 36 observer rats was: (1) exposed to a demonstrator rat that had eaten an unpalatable, cayenne-pepper-flavored diet (Diet Cay), then tested to determine its willingness to eat Diet Cay and (2) exposed to a demonstrator rat that had eaten a palatable diet (Diet NPT) to which the observer had previously learned an aversion, then tested to determine its willingness to eat Diet NPT. In both instances, some observers ate substantial amounts of the diet that their respective demonstrators had eaten, while other observers did not. No consistency was found across the two situations in the relative susceptibility of individual observer rats to social influences on their food choices. In a second experiment, observer rats interacted, at 3 day intervals, with demonstrator rats that had each eaten different diets. After each interaction, all observers were given a choice test to determine their preferences for the diet that their demonstrators had eaten. Again, there was no consistency in the relative strength of individual observer rats' socially induced preferences for diets fed to demonstrators. Stable individual differences in magnitude of susceptibility to social influence on food preference did not account for a detectable proportion of observed variance in diet selection.
36只受试大鼠分别进行以下实验：(1) 让受试大鼠接触一只已食用了难吃的辣椒味食物（辣椒饮食）的示范大鼠，然后对受试大鼠进行测试，以确定其食用辣椒饮食的意愿；(2) 让受试大鼠接触一只已食用了美味食物（非辣椒饮食）的示范大鼠，而受试大鼠此前已对该美味食物产生厌恶，然后对受试大鼠进行测试，以确定其食用非辣椒饮食的意愿。在这两种情况下，一些受试大鼠大量食用了各自示范大鼠所吃的食物，而另一些受试大鼠则没有。在个体受试大鼠对食物选择的社会影响的相对易感性方面，在这两种情况之间未发现一致性。在第二个实验中，受试大鼠每隔3天与分别食用不同食物的示范大鼠进行互动。每次互动后，对所有受试大鼠进行选择测试，以确定它们对示范大鼠所吃食物的偏好。同样，个体受试大鼠受社会影响而对示范大鼠所喂食的食物产生的偏好强度也不一致。在食物偏好方面，个体对社会影响的易感性大小的稳定个体差异并不能解释观察到的饮食选择差异中可检测到的比例。
