One-trial acquired likes and dislikes in humans: Disgust as a US,food predominance,and negative learning predominance

Self-reports were solicited by questionnaire on experiences in which likes or dislikes for anything except people were produced as a result of a single event. The same questionnaire also asked for cases of one-experience acquisition of, or loss of, fears. Analysis of 440 reports indicates that the learned taste aversion phenomenon accounts for most rapid acquired dislikes; foods were the subject of 77% of all rapid acquired dislikes. A new form of food “aversion” learning appeared (22 cases), in which the US is a disgusting stimulus rather than illness. This may be mediated by nausea, the same US as in illness-produced aversions. There were more than three times as many cases of one-trial dislikes as opposed to likes. This could result from a bias in remembering or sampling, a bias in the occurrence of events in the world, and/or a bias to learn more rapidly about negative events. In contrast to acquired likes and dislikes, foods were the subject of one-trial acquired fear in only 1 case out of 164.