Document Type

Honors Project On-Campus Access Only

Abstract

Pavlovian conditioning is a fundamental learning process by which organisms associate salient motivational events, such as food or drugs, with environmental cues that reliably predict them. These learned cue-reward associations can drive maladaptive behaviors, as seen in substance use disorder. This study investigated how ethanol reward devaluation influences Pavlovian conditioned responses in Long-Evans rats, focusing on sign-tracking and goal-tracking—two distinct behavioral phenotypes that reflect differential attribution of incentive salience to cues. Rats received either ethanol or sucrose as the unconditioned stimulus during training, followed by a conditioned taste aversion protocol using lithium chloride to devalue the reward. Although both ethanol and sucrose were successfully devalued, neither sign-tracking or goal-tracking behavior significantly decreased following devaluation. Notably, ethanol supported greater goal-tracking behavior during training and showed stronger contextual transfer of devaluation than sucrose. These findings suggest that under extended training conditions, sign-tracking and goal-tracking behaviors may become resistant to devaluation regardless of the reward type. The results support ethanol’s capacity to support Pavlovian learning and emphasize the importance of methodological factors—such as training duration and contextual congruence—in shaping behavioral flexibility.

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