Abstract

Socially Transmitted Food Preferences (STFP) are typically assessed in laboratory rats by allowing a single Observer to interact with a Demonstrator fed a distinctly flavored food. Social learning is gauged by the Observer rat's subsequent preference for the Demonstrator's diet to equally palatable alternatives. This thesis tested the hypothesis that modifying the design of conventional protocols to better match the conditions that would underlie STFP in a rat's natural habitat will enhance laboratory-assessed social learning. In Experiment 1, the ability for multiple Observers interacting simultaneously with a single Demonstrator to acquire a food preference was assessed. Rats were reared for 10 weeks in enriched housing conditions and tested under conventional (CL) or group-learning (GL) approaches. The results revealed a greater tendency for GL rats to consume their respective Demonstrators' diets than CL rats. Observers tested under CL failed to display a food preference. In Experiment 1B, the influence of impoverished rearing conditions on STFP was assessed. Rats were reared under standardized housing conditions and tested using CL. Impoverished rats acquired a more robust preference when rearing conditions and learning conditions were more similar. In Experiment 2, the role of the hippocampus in the acquisition and retention of STFP under GL was assessed at 10 min following the learning phase. Rats receiving hippocampal lesions performed similarly to sham lesion rats and consumed more of the diet eaten by their respective Demonstrators. In sum, these results provide support for enhanced learning of food preferences under semi-naturalistic conditions.